Smell-o-vision 2.0?

The Guardian recently posted an article about a group of MIT scientists who have created a device that uses temperature controls, lighting, and a "heartbeat and shiver simulator" worked into a fancy... vest... thing(?) to allow readers to share the experiences of a story's protagonist as they read. They're calling their idea "sensory fiction", and used James Tiptree Jr.'s award-winning novella The Girl Who Was Plugged In as their prototype story. I respect what they were aiming for and all, but their end product still sounds a lot like a grown-up, ridiculously expensive take on one of those "What does the animal say?" books people buy for little kids.