He snaps the cartridge onto a virtual headset, which, if you've never seen one, looks like a massive pair of ski goggles. I pull the whole device over my eyes and nose and enter the metaverse. A flower box full of roses appears in front of me. I lean over, pick one and sniff.

Oh, wow. That's so cool. It really smells like a rose.

— Read more in Vermont tech firm believes to experience the metaverse, you have to smell it too at NPR, or see Want to smell in virtual reality? A Vermont-based startup has the technology at WBUR.