Sony has received a patent for an idea to transmit data directly into the brain, with the goal of enabling a person to see movies and play video games in which they smell, taste and perhaps even feel things. It is based on a concept only.

The report states that the inventor is based at a Sony office in San Diego, California. Sony Electronics spokeswoman Elizabeth Boukis said the work was a prophetic invention and no experiments at all had been done on it. She added that it was based on an inspiration which may someday be the direction that technology will take us.

It is unlikely that Sony will have a product based on the patent within its 17-year applicability.