40 years later, Kojima's dream of physical games with the smell of blood may become a reality thanks to scientists

The technology already allows transmitting several smells.

Technologies are gradually developing, and a potential opportunity arises to realize what was difficult to imagine in the past. Recently, players had a reason to recall one of Hideo Kojima's dreams, which he spoke about on a social network back in October 2010.

As it turned out, while working on Snatcher, he wanted to make a physical copy with the “smell of blood.” It was assumed that the computer could heat up enough for special paint on the floppy disks to start emitting an aroma — so players would have the opportunity to smell the crime scene:

Kojima's colleagues' position is understandable. Implementing such an idea in those years would have created many problems: such a paint trick is one-time, could damage equipment, and chemical fumes would spread in an enclosed space. But almost 40 years later, thanks to scientists, the situation may change.

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Image source: Kaizerkunkun's X account

Scientists have described a technology in which an “electronic nose” recognizes certain smells (such as the aroma of coffee) and then transmits a command to a small wearable device to release molecules of the corresponding aromatic substance.

Thus, it is possible to transmit data over any distance. The current version of the electronic nose can recognize five smells. To support additional smells, the electronic nose needs to be trained to recognize them and supply corresponding scented liquids to the smell generator.

For now, this is only a research prototype, and a larger and more diverse set of training data is needed to move to commercial use. It is also necessary to ensure reliable recognition of specific smells in real-world conditions, where smells are often found in mixtures. Nevertheless, the technology has certain potential, including for fulfilling Kojima's dream.