Scent dispersal systems for head-mounted displays

Abstract

Introduced herein are various systems and techniques for dispensing scents from a scent delivery system. The scent delivery system could be a self-contained unit that is attachable to a head-mounted display (HMD) or could be integrated into the HMD itself. The scent delivery system can be used to improve the realism of content (e.g., visual content, audio content) experienced via the HMD. More specifically, the scent delivery system can be configured to dispense one or more scents in response to determining a particular scene is being experienced by the user. Different scents can be dispensed based on characteristics of the content. In some embodiments, the scent(s) are held in capsules that are housed within the scent delivery system. The capsules may be readily replaceable by the user, which enables the scent(s) to be customized based on what content is to be shown or projected in the future.

1 . An apparatus comprising:
 a structural frame that includes
 a fastener for detachably connecting the apparatus to a head-mounted display, and 
 an outlet through which air residing in a cavity formed by the structural frame can escape into an external environment; 
   a container of scented liquid that is removable from the apparatus;   a pump configured to selectively dispense the scented liquid from the container into the cavity formed by the structural frame; and   a processor configured to generate a control signal that controls how much of the scented liquid is dispensed by the pump during playback of digital content by the head-mounted display.   
     
     
         2 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 a fan configured to guide air from the cavity to the external environment through the outlet of the structural frame.   
     
     
         3 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 a sensor configured to measure motion of the apparatus, temperature of a user, ambient humidity, or any combination thereof.   
     
     
         4 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 a first sensor configured to generate a first output indicative of motion of the apparatus; and   a second sensor configured to generate a second output indicative of skin temperature of a user.   
     
     
         5 . The apparatus of  claim 4 , wherein the control signal generated by the processor is based on the first and second outputs. 
     
     
         6 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the container is one of multiple containers that each include a different scented liquid, and wherein the pump is one of multiple pumps corresponding to the multiple containers. 
     
     
         7 . The apparatus of  claim 6 , wherein the control signal generated by the processor includes
 a first signal that controls how much scented liquid is dispensed from a first container by a first pump of the multiple pumps, and   a second signal that controls how much scented liquid is dispensed from a second container by a second pump of the multiple pumps,   wherein the first and second signals cause the first and second pumps to simultaneously dispense different scented liquids to produce a manufactured scent.   
     
     
         8 . A method comprising:
 receiving, by a processor, an indication that a scent feature of a scent delivery apparatus is enabled;   monitoring, by the processor, digital content presented by a head-mounted display to which the scent delivery apparatus is connected;   generating, by the processor based on said monitoring, a signal for controlling when a scent is produced during playback of the digital content by the head-mounted display;   transmitting, by the processor, the signal to a pump of the scent delivery apparatus,
 wherein the signal prompts the pump to release a scented material upon display of a predetermined frame of the digital content by the head-mounted display; 
   monitoring, by the processor, a reaction by a user to the release of the scented material;   determining, by the processor, that the reaction matches a specified pattern indicative of discomfort; and   modifying, by the processor, the signal to alter a characteristic of a future scent to be produced by the scent delivery apparatus.   
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein said monitoring comprises:
 examining an output produced by a motion sensor connected to the scent delivery apparatus or the head-mounted display,   wherein the output is indicative of motion of the scent delivery apparatus.   
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein the specified pattern indicative of discomfort is a head movement away from a fictional source of the scent. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein said monitoring comprises:
 examining an output produced by a temperature sensor connected to the scent delivery apparatus or the head-mounted display,   wherein the output is indicative of skin temperature of the user.   
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the specified pattern indicative of discomfort is a skin temperature exceeding a specified temperature. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein said monitoring comprises:
 examining an output produced by a humidity sensor connected to the scent delivery apparatus or the head-mounted display,   wherein the output is indicative of ambient humidity.   
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein the specified pattern indicative of discomfort is an ambient humidity exceeding a specified level. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein the characteristic is an intensity of the future scent, a duration of the future scent, or any combination thereof. 
     
     
         16 . A non-transitory computer-readable medium with instructions stored thereon that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform operations comprising:
 acquiring digital content to be presented by a head-mounted display connected to a scent delivery apparatus,
 wherein the digital content includes a series of frames to be presented in succession by the head-mounted display; 
   examining the digital content to identify a relevant scent;   parsing the digital content to identify one or more frames that represent candidates to become keyframes that would prompt the scent delivery apparatus to produce the relevant scent;   classifying a particular frame of the one or more frames as a keyframe; and   converting the digital content into scent-enabled digital content by generating a new content file that includes the keyframe.   
     
     
         17 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 16 , wherein the operations further comprise:
 proposing a scent to be produced by the scent delivery apparatus upon display of each frame of the one or more frames; and   receiving user input indicative of an intent to accept or decline the proposed scent for each frame of the one or more frames.   
     
     
         18 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 16 , wherein the operations further comprise:
 generating an interface through which a user is able to examine the series of frames of the digital content; and   enabling the user to manually classify, via the interface, frames as keyframes.   
     
     
         19 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 18 , wherein the operations further comprise:
 allowing the user to identify, via the interface, a particular scent that will be produced upon display of a manually identified keyframe;   allowing the user to specify, via the interface, an intensity of the particular scent; and   allowing the user to specify, via the interface, a duration over which the particular scent will be produced.   
     
     
         20 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 16 , wherein the digital content includes augmented reality content.