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August 30, 2000
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A Whiff of the Future
| The Nose Knows |
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Imagine playing a racing video and being able to smell burning tires as you peel away from the starting line. Technology may soon deliver such experiences. We often follow our noses. Our sense of smell is 10,000 times stronger than our sense of taste. Companies worldwide are working on ways to incorporate scent into everyday experiences such as playing video games, shopping for groceries, and buying items over the Internet. The Texas-based AromaJet company has developed an aroma-generating device for video games. It can be positioned next to a video screen or worn around a player's neck. The technology enables the software code to release odors at various points in a game to coincide with on-screen events. The company believes that by introducing scent into the gaming experience, playing will take on a whole new level of realism. |
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| Working Sniffs |
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Scents may also be used to enhance certain emotions. Think of the music that is played during scary parts of a movie. Doesn't it heighten your fear? Now imagine movie producers creating smells that could also make you feel certain ways.
The same technology may take over the aisles of our supermarkets as well. Shoppers passing by a certain section, say the cake mix aisle, might trigger the smell of freshly baked chocolate cake. Other companies are working on ways to download smells over the Internet, which would enable people to "sample" various products, such as perfume, shampoo, or body lotion before they buy them. The Georgia-based TriSenx company has built a desktop printer look-alike that can make "smells based on data programmed into a Web page," reports Popular Science magazine. Users can click an image of a lotion, food, or perfume, and feed a special paper into the desktop device, which will then print out a scented version of what they're seeing on-screen. The thinking goes that if people can smell a product, perhaps it will increase their desire to buy it, much in the way that a vibrantly colored product attracts more interest than a drab one. Instead of "scratch and sniff," this is "print and sniff." (TriSenx is also working on a wafer that would allow people to taste products as well.)
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Moviegoers may also be subjected to scents that go above and beyond the smell of buttered popcorn. The technology being developed by AromaJet would allow viewers to "smell" the action taking place on the big screen, whether a character is frying an egg, cutting the grass, or lighting a cigar.
| The Power of Scent |
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For many years, people have used scents to either perk up or relax. This use of scent to evoke or banish a certain mood is called aromatherapy.
Scent technology works by combining several base chemicals to get a desired smell. Manufacturers may face some problems as they try to introduce the public to this new technology. Many people are allergic to chemicals, even those used in hair gels and underarm deodorants. In Halifax, Nova Scotia, a law now prohibits anyone from wearing any sort of cosmetic fragrance (and this includes deodorant, hair gel, and perfume) in most indoor public spaces. Students have even been suspended for using hair gel. The ban was imposed because some residents suffer from a syndrome called Multiple Chemical Sensitivity. Overexposure to chemicals can result in symptoms such as weakness, dizziness, and exhaustion. |
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People have been experimenting with the power of scent since ancient times. It is said that Cleopatra soaked her ship's sails in jasmine oil to attract Mark Antony.
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