And Price Lefler, a mechanical engineering student at the U., said he's working on how to make the wind carry scent particles to the virtual reality user. They'll start by testing how wind-aided smoke dissipates in the room. They hope that will help them create a technique for people to actually smell the roses without stepping outside.

Other projects have used a treadmill-like device to create a virtual environment, but the U. project takes atmospheric display to extremes. They're also integrating radiant heat lamps that would imitate the heat of the sun with shifting clouds, depending on the virtual weather.

Eric Pardyjak, another co-investigator, recently received an additional NSF grant to study how new buildings would affect air flow in the environment and energy usage.

"Say you build a building downtown, its mirrored glass reflects energy," Minor said. "The building blocks wind and the increased heat effects ozone; both worsen air quality."

For now, though, graduate students are perfecting minute details of the virtual reality world.

Fisher extracted himself from the harness strap and walked off the treadmill. He's back to reality, but if he wants, he can go virtually jogging around Little Cottonwood Canyon with the wind blowing in his hair.

"We've literally created a virtual world," Fisher said.

E-MAIL: lgroves@desnews.com