You all know Virtual Reality… (of course) You also know Augmented Reality,
But do you know what Sensory Reality is?
Sensory Reality is a reality where you are not only getting an audiovisual experience
but one that also stimulates your other senses like smell and touch.
This is what Sensiks, a company in The Netherlands, is developing.
A multi-sensory pod where you can experience Virtual Reality experiences in an even more
immersive way.
This could be something we will use every day in the future.
Hi, my name is Cas, and in today’s DIVE INTO VR episode, we are diving into this multi-sensory
VR pod.
But first, subscribe if you haven’t yet to see more videos like this one.
Now, join me beyond reality.
First things first, this is another video we have shot during VR Days, a Dutch VR event
in Amsterdam.
During this, I talked to the founder of Sensiks, Fred Gaulstaun, where he told me how he got
this idea of making a multi-sensory VR pod.
And knowing this is interesting because this is the reason why this VR pod could be something
we will use every day in the future.
Fred said the idea came from the beach.
He said he was lying on the beach, and he felt good.
He then wondered, why am I feeling this good?
He realized that five of our senses were triggered there.
It must have been the warm sun on his skin, the soft wind blowing through his hair, the
smell of the ocean flowing, and the sight of the faraway horizon that has no limits.
All of this combined made him happy at that moment.
He then thought, hey, what if we imitated these senses.
Could we trigger these feelings of happiness anywhere we want?
Thirty-eight months of heavy development later, the first Sensory Reality Pod was presented
in 2016.
Back then, it was still without a VR headset.
Now, in 2019, they are actually using the Oculus Rift S inside this pod and that is
also the version that I tried out.
Basically, this Sensory Reality Pod is a cabin where you are put inside a VR experience,
and while you are watching and listening to that experience, the pod also adds temperature,
scent and wind so that all your senses are stimulated.
Your brain will think you are on the beach or on holiday.
This pod can be used for therapy, educational purposes, and even gaming purposes.
For example, this can help people get over a trauma or airlines could show off a holiday
destination.
The VOID VR, which is a multi-sensory entertainment attraction only available in some cities,
uses exactly all these senses to create the most immersive VR experience ever.
If you never tried that out, I recommend trying it out.
But let’s go back to the Sensiks Reality Pod.
Let’s talk about what’s inside this pod first and how it works before we move on to
what it feels like and what it used for.
The cabin comes in different sizes, a large and medium.
The one I tried was a medium-sized pod, which is a big rectangular box that reminds me of
a sauna.
You enter through a glass door, and on the left wall, there’s a touchscreen that acts
as the control panel to launch experiences.
Inside the pods, there is a bench to sit.
And on all walls except the glass door are a couple of heat panels.
Between one of the heat panels are little holes where scent comes out.
Above these panels are light panels, and little blowers are mounted next to those where the
wind comes out.
Next to the wind mounts are speakers.
All over the ceiling, there’s a big light panel too.
The light panels are used for when someone wants to use the pod without a VR headset.
Before we move on, while you are watching this video, don’t forget to leave a like
if you found it interesting so far.
So after getting a demonstration of what the pod is capable of, I entered an experience.
A very relaxing experience that had seemed to transport me to space, where I visited
a couple of alien planets.
I went to a sunny, green planet that smelled good, felt warm and cozy.
I heard a soft, relaxing soundtrack and I could feel wind blowing on me slightly while
I moved.
And while looking at big water drops and big plants moving in a relaxing manner, I was
transferred to a colder looking planet.
The planet still had sun however, so it still felt warm but a little less warm than the
previous planet, it also started to smell differently and the wind blew in another direction.
I ended up back between the stars, where the experience soon ended.
It was only a 5-minute experience, but it already helped me feel what the pod is capable
of.
I felt sincerely relaxed for a moment.
Not thinking about anything or anyone that was watching me.
I was intrigued, I wanted to know how this pod works, so I asked Fred for an explanation.
How does this pod trick our brain into thinking that we are on the beach or an alien planet?
Fred explained that during the development of this pod, Sensiks worked closely with neuroscientists
to focus on how the brain works.
Where questions were answered like why do people relax in nature?
What do they experience, and how does that work with your hormones and emotions?
The most important thing that Sensiks learned here was that your brain constantly saves
memories, but also emotions.
Those emotions are connected to those memories.
And the moment you think back to those memories, you can re-experience your emotions too.
You won’t feel emotions as fast, though, if you only observe because your brain wants
to preserve its energy as much as possible.
So if you are watching a movie, you’re only passively observing and it won’t trigger
those emotions as much.
Now it appears that if you sit in a cabin that not only lets you watch and hear but
also stimulates your other senses in a coherent way, then your brain will start to participate
actively.
And that’s when you will feel those emotions again and truly feel like you are re-experiencing
something.
Fred’s explanation made sense and made me want those sensors at home with our VR games
and experiences.
That would be so cool.
But unfortunately, we are not that far yet, but yet so close.
Right now, the pod is mostly used in the enterprise market, although Sensiks is currently also
researching what they can do in the consumer market and gaming industry.
As an example, Fred told me they are currently building a mod for Minecraft with their pod.
With that mod, you can add Sensory Reality to that game.
I hope one day in a not too distant future, we get to try that sometime at home.
But what is this pod currently used for?
Sensiks is working with a Canadian war veteran, who has post-traumatic stress disorder (in
short PTSD), and in collaboration with the University of Amsterdam they are doing trial
runs to treat PTSD with the Sensory Reality Pod.
And the test results have been very good.
This is a new way of trauma treatment.
At first, Sensiks told me that researchers thought that a trauma emotion sticks with
you permanently, but it appears not to be true.
Every time you trigger that trauma, there’s a chance to associate it with something else
other than stress and fear.
But yes, that does mean that you need to re-experience that trauma again with shock exposure because
only then, you have the chance to treat it by changing that emotion or removing it completely.
Currently, this treatment is continuing development.
This is only one of the use cases though.
Sensiks is also working with the Dutch and Canadian Ministry of Defence, where they use
the pod for training on how to handle stress.
Prevention training.
Big corporations can also use it to prevent burnouts for example.
Or therapists could use it to treat depression.
KLM, the Dutch airlines, has also placed two of these cabins in their business lounge for
visitors to relax in before a long flight.
Sensiks is also currently working on creating an interactive learning experience.
They found that if you add emotions to what you are learning, the better you will integrate
that knowledge and memorize it.
These are all different angles where this VR pod could be useful.
Sensiks themselves are focusing on mental wellness.
They want to do good things with it.
The Sensory Reality Pod is priced at 25.000 euros for the medium size.
Of course, again, this is not a consumer price, but most of the time, as technologies develop,
prices will drop, and eventually, we can see these kinds of things come to our homes.
It might take a while, but I don’t mind waiting.
So before we end this video, has anyone here ever done The VOID experience?
It’s quite similar to what Sensiks does, except it’s, of course, in a bigger environment
since you move around.
If you haven’t tried it yet and you are close to a location where you can, I totally
recommend it.
I tried the Star Wars experience in The VOID and it is now a memory that really sticks
with me.
If you liked this video, then check out more episodes in this series right here.
All our VR Days 2019 videos will be added to this playlist, as well as previous videos,
much like this one are on the list too.
Let us know down below if you believe that these kinds of VR pods could be a must-have
item in our home in the future?
If not, why not?
Curious about your thoughts.
A big thanks go to VR Days and Sensiks for showing off their experience and letting us
film there.
And a special thanks goes to our Right-Hand Patrons.
Shout out to artArmin and his Patreon page.
Another shout out goes to BaxornVR and his VR YouTube channel!
Everyone, see you all in the next video.
As always, VR on!