Virtual-reality scent system fools flavor sense

Sights, sounds, and more recently touch are commonly employed to create and enhance virtual-reality (VR) experiences. But the sense of smell is rarely a factor. A small group of researchers at the University of Tokyo are working to change that by integrating the sense of smell and sight in a way that alters a person's perception of taste. Their VR system was able to trick people who were eating a plain cookie into thinking the cookie was of whatever flavor they had selected. The group is making use of the fact that taste is affected by what we see, hear, and smell, among other things.