What is it like to feel virtual wind on your own skin? Where human perceptions in virtual reality were previously limited to visual and aural stimuli, the playing field is now getting larger. Around the world, research teams and start-ups are working on new solutions that also enable touch, taste and smell. Simulating various stimuli makes it possible for a surfer, for example, to realistically feel the virtual wind in the sails and smell the virtual sea below the surfboard. Enhanced sensory perceptions allow users to immerse themselves even further into virtual worlds.

For the first time, it is now possible to artificially generate sensory stimuli and intentionally influence our perceptions using hand controllers or treadmills. Haptic feedback enables users to feel the supposedly rough or smooth structure of surfaces. Even the temperature of hot or cold objects is perceptible. The start-up CamSoda has developed a VR mask with scent canisters that contain odours and intensify the experience of consuming pornographic content. Researchers from the universities of Singapore and Tokyo go even further. They have developed face electrodes to simulate the experience of tasting and chewing in virtual reality.

However, these technologies are not only used in virtual reality. Products capable of simulation work with the same mechanisms and use designer stimuli to create the desired perceptions. For example, a digital spoon will make sure that food tastes sweet although it actually contains no sugar at all. Simulations will become part of a reality that, in future, can be shaped in whatever way we desire.