Multisensory Experiences in eXtended Reality

Since the beginning, virtual reality (VR) has been envisioned as a technology that engages multiple senses. Examples include Morton Heilig’s Sensorama simulator and Ivan E. Sutherland’s notion of the Ultimate Display described in the 1960s. In more than 60 years, technological development and scientific knowledge have predominantly focused virtual and extended reality (VR and XR) applications on the sense of sight and hearing. Despite their importance in everyday interaction, the other senses remain on the margins of VR and XR applications. The potential to include additional senses has been acknowledged and extensively explored in the literature. Those who deal with this topic encounter challenges in understanding the functioning mechanism of the human sensorial and perceptive components and creating interfaces capable of communicating through these senses. Last but not least, it is important to design case studies capable of exploiting the potential of this technology and encouraging investors to believe in its development and end users to adopt it once it is ready. These challenges drive the research activities included in this special issue.