Have you ridden Soarin’ Around the World and noticed that you can smell scents that correspond with the scene on the screen? This is thanks to a technology called “smellitzers” that dispense a scent, similar to an air freshener, to help immerse guests in a story.
Disney is trying to improve that technology so that different scents can be blended for a more realistic sensory experience. The new technology would allow a scent to be introduced gradually instead of all at once, as well as introducing multiple scents for a more seamless experience.
The patent application doesn’t outline where this technology could be used, if ever, but possibilities include Soarin’ Around the World, the upcoming Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure, and others. Introduction of this technology would require renovations of current smellitzers technology in existing attractions, so use in new attractions still in development is more likely in the short term.
Stay tuned to WDWNT as we bring you more patent news from The Walt Disney Company.
It is something, it seems, that is too wierd to turn into the form of a “pending patent” (they will never receive the patent grant) , as at least one (French) specialised independent scent tech company is already doing “whatever the client asks them to do”, since ages…
But, we know Disney is “filing provisional patent applications”, one after the other (where +90% will never be granted) as a gambling game for winning time. They constantly smash open doors with whatever simplistic (generic) combinations of existing technologies. The real problem is they (1) have money “to be annoying”, and (2) filing generic provisional patent applications does not count as (business) harrasment according to present law. If that was the case, the flood would stop.
I’m not quite sure how this affects the common Disney enthusiast at the end of day? Every corporation files tons of patents for technology they think is genuine. They have the right to do so. If I invented something unique, I sure as heck would do anything I can to prevent people from profiting from it. Lots of Disney experiences from yesterday, today and tomorrow have all been thanks to smart engineers who come up with it and those to protect it. Disney also buys patents from commoners like you and I…so there’s an upside?