Scent dispenser and automatic dispense of scent in an immersive environment
A device and system automatically release scents in an immersive environment. When an audio/video signal includes a sound or image associated with an event correlated to one of the scents, the device releases the scent to provide the improved immersive experience with the sense of smell included in the scene. The occurrence of an event may be predicted by an artificial intelligence engine. The artificial intelligence engine may determine when an event associated with a scent to be dispensed is going to occur so that the timing of the dispense is more accurate and correlated with the timing of the action in the audio/video signal.
1 . A method for automatically dispensing a scent into an environment, comprising:
continuously detecting by a sensor or a computer processor, a video signal in the environment;
receiving the video signal by an adapter configured to capture signals from multiple distinct input sources of different input formats;
reformatting the video signal by the adapter into a stream format processable by a remote server;
forwarding data points in the video signal to the remote server;
identifying, by the remote server, an event in the video signal in real-time from the data points;
forwarding the event identified in real-time to a computing device or a controller communicatively coupled to a scent dispenser;
identifying, by the computing device, a scent correlated to the event identified in real-time; and
operating by the computing device or the controller, a dispense of the identified scent by the scent dispenser into the environment in response to the event identified in real-time; and
determining by the computing device or controller, whether a frequency of dispense of the identified scent exceeds a threshold frequency value within a time window.
2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the video signal is an analog signal.
3 . The method of claim 2 , wherein the analog signal is received from an output device showing an image a from a playback of an audio/visual media.
4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the video signal is a digital video stream.
5 . The method of claim 4 , wherein the digital video stream is received from one of a gaming console, a virtual reality system, a smart phone, a smart television or display, and a personal computer.
6 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising preventing the scent dispenser from dispensing the scent in the event the threshold value is exceeded.
7 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the scent is selected based on a smell reminiscent of the event.
8 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the identified event occurs multiple times in the video signal.
9 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the event identified in real-time occurs at an arbitrary point in the video signal.
10 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the event identified in real-time is a gun fire or explosion and the scent dispensed is reminiscent of smoke or lit gunpowder.
11 . A computer program product for automatically dispensing a scent into an environment, the computer program product comprising:
one or more non-transitory computer readable storage media, and program instructions collectively stored on the one or more non-transitory computer readable storage media, the program instructions comprising:
continuously detecting by a sensor or a computer processor, a video signal in the environment;
receiving the video signal by an adapter configured to capture signals from multiple distinct input sources of different input formats;
reformatting the video signal by the adapter into a stream format processable by a remote server;
forwarding data points in the video signal to the remote server;
identifying, by the remote server, an event in the video signal in real-time from the data points;
forwarding the event identified in real-time to a computing device or a controller communicatively coupled to a scent dispenser;
identifying, by the computing device, a scent correlated to the event identified in real-time; and
operating by the computing device or the controller, a dispense of the identified scent by the scent dispenser into the environment in response to the event identified in real-time; and
determining by the computing device or controller, whether a frequency of dispense of the identified scent exceeds a threshold frequency value within a time window.
12 . The computer program product of claim 11 , wherein the video signal is an analog signal.
13 . The computer program product of claim 12 , the analog signal is received from an output device showing an image a from a playback of an audio/visual media.
14 . The computer program product of claim 11 , wherein the video signal is a digital video stream.
15 . The computer program product of claim 14 , wherein the digital video stream is received from one of a gaming console, a virtual reality system, a smart phone, a smart television or display, and a personal computer.
16 . The computer program product of claim 11 , wherein the program instructions further comprise preventing the scent dispenser from dispensing the scent in the event the threshold value is exceeded.
17 . The computer program product of claim 11 , wherein the scent is selected based on a smell reminiscent of the event.
18 . The computer program product of claim 11 , wherein the identified event occurs multiple times in the video signal.
19 . The computer program product of claim 11 , wherein the event identified in real-time is a gun fire or explosion and the scent dispensed is reminiscent of smoke or lit gunpowder.
20 . The computer program product of claim 11 , wherein the event identified in real-time occurs at an arbitrary point in the video signal.