Patent ID: 8668884

Claim:
A reproducing apparatus comprising: a contents controller that detects media data, a plurality of smell data, and smell reproducing information indicating reproducing periods in which the plurality of smell data detected by the contents controller are to be reproduced from contents including the plurality of smell data; a media controller that outputs reproducing instructions of the media data detected by the contents controller to a media player so that the media player reproduces the media data; and a smell diffusing controller that sorts the plurality of smell data detected by the contents controller in accordance with the smell reproducing information detected by the contents controller to thereby determine time periods within respective reproduction periods of the reproducing periods in which different smell data of the plurality of smell data overlap and time periods within respective reproduction periods of the reproducing periods in which different smell data of the plurality of smell data do not overlap, and controls an operation of a smell diffusing apparatus according to smell diffusing data generated by combining the plurality of smell data detected by the contents controller with corresponding time periods of said time periods within respective reproduction periods of the reproduction periods in which different smell data of the plurality of smell data overlap and said time periods within the respective reproduction periods of the reproduction periods in which different smell data of the plurality of smell data do not overlap, so that the smell diffusing data is smell-diffused through the smell diffusing apparatus at timings which correspond to the reproduction of the media data by the media player for the smell diffusing data, wherein, when there are two or more smell data at a corresponding reproducing period, the smell diffusing controller combines common smell diffusing component information from the two or more smell data to generate the smell diffusing data.