Enhancing Virtual Teleportation: An Evaluation of a Wearable Olfactory Device with Ventilation for Immersive VR Experiences

Humans interact with the world using various sensory cues. However, VR experiences are primarily limited to visual and auditory cues. Olfactory cues, another important sense, have not yet been thoroughly studied for their perceptual benefits in VR experiences. In this work, we first introduce a reproducible and wearable olfactory device prototype for VR. Following that, we conduct a user study to evaluate its usability by applying it to navigation techniques, including Teleportation and Dash. The results suggest that providing olfactory cues along with ventilation during navigation improves perception of the virtual environment.