A virtual or augmented reality smoking system is provided herein. A smoker using the system can experience a virtual reality of smoking by puffing on a cigarette shaped article and experiencing the taste or aroma from the article while simultaneously viewing a generated image of a burning cigarette and exhaled and sidestream smoke. Additionally, the room environment may be simulated to give the experience of smoking in a setting of the smoker's choice (virtual reality) or the image of a burning cigarette and smoke may be superimposed on a live or natural image of the smoker's environment (augmented reality).