Thoughts and Ideas on Olfactory Virtual Reality

Healium Becomes a Multi-sensory Healing Platform Through Partnership with OVR Technology

Written by Samuel Wisniewski | Jan 6, 2023 12:58:03 PM

OVR’s Digital Scent Technology to Integrate Healium Wellness Content.

Burlington, VT – Healium, the makers of a digital stress relief and sleep product powered by consumer wearables, and OVR Technology, the leader in digital scent technology, announce a partnership to provide more immersive and emotionally-engaging, multisensory digital wellbeing content to consumers. OVR Technology will soon include Healium content as part of its library of multi-sensory experiences as well as included in its scent-driven virtual reality wellness platform, INHALE. Later in 2023, Healium content will also be available via OVR Technology’s new wearable scent technology, the ION 3, which launches in beta at CES 2023. Attendees may experience early versions of what this partnership promises at Booth #51365 (in the Tech West-Venetian Expo Hall).

"Aroma impacts the brain and heart in unique ways, and when you combine that power with stories you can smell and feel...Wow! Healium is delighted to scent-enable our stories with this new partnership with OVR," said Sarah Hill, CEO of Healium. “We plan to offer the ION 3 wearable as a compatible wearable with the Healium and Sleepium apps later this year.”

Early studies suggest that a scent-driven, immersive relaxation experience can support decreasing negative mood states and increasing positive mood states with participants in an olfactory virtual reality experience reporting significantly greater decreases in depression and increases in happiness compared to a VR only group. The way in which scent enhances presence in VR contributes positively to these results.

“Our sense of smell is the only sense linked to the limbic system of the brain, which controls our memory, behavior, and decision-making. It’s an extremely powerful aspect of our mental health and well-being,” said Aaron Wisniewski, CEO and co-founder of OVR Technology. “Our mission is to completely reimagine the sense of smell for the digital world in order to make all digital experiences more emotional, immersive, and effective

As the leading supplier of olfactory technology, we look forward to working with Healium's proven platform and innovative team on content to provide immersive experiences to benefit its users.”

OVR Technology’s Products

NEW ION 3 WEARABLE SCENT TECHNOLOGY: The first personal, wearable scent technology optimized for VR, AR, mobile, and desktop, enhances immersion and creates emotionally-engaging, interactive digital experiences through its patented suite of tools, which includes:

● Wearable to experience multisensory content via mobile, desktop, AR, and VR

● Mobile app for creators to produce and share multisensory content, designed in partnership with leading cognitive neuroscientist Rachel Herz, PhD

● Universal scentware cartridge capable of producing thousands of unique scent combinations designed for digital experiences

● ION DEVICE FOR VR HEADSETS: OVR’s patented microtechnology allows for accuracy and control that allows scent to be provided to the user in microsecond increments by using piezoelectric technologies to disperse nano-bursts of scent. Users attach OVR’s ION device to their VR headset to access the experience. ION is the most accurate and precise on-mask scent technology currently available.

Earlier in 2022, OVR Technology won Best in Show - Virtual Reality at the Augmented World Expo USA for its first-of-its-kind spatial scent technology for virtual reality.

ABOUT HEALIUM

Healium is a digital well-being company that creates immersive content to self-manage anxiety and sleep. Its core technology connects the body's electricity to the metaverse via any consumer wearable. Its products are used worldwide by athletes, hospitals, schools, and other areas of situational stress.