Avatar Control in Virtual Environments

Mental beliefs about blood, and not its smell, affect presence in a violent computer game

“…The most frequently used virtual training program in the military (Virtual Battlespace, Bohemia Interactive Australia) still only includes visual and auditory input. Others before us have already suggested the introduction of olfaction as an improvement to such environments (Simpson, Cowgill, Gilkey, & Weisenberger, 2015;Vlahos, 2006), such as the smell of sewage, gunpowder, fire, decaying vegetation or burning tires, but also the smell of blood. While most smells would probably merely increase the users' sense of reality, we now know that the thought of being confronted with blood in a violent situation also has the potential of changing behavioral outcomes, depending on users' tendency to behave aggressively in day-to-day situations (dispositional aggressiveness).…”