The last 20 years of gaming have treated us to better graphics and sound, more innovative control schemes, and more mature and sophisticated storylines. Could the next innovation involve the olfactory system? If the team behind some unique British Army training videos have anything to say about it, then yes.
According to a Daily Mail article, researchers in the U.K. have partnered with the Ministry of Defence there to make training videos for the British Army a tad more immersive. While the troops watch the videos, foul smells are released into the air, appropriate to what's onscreen.
"Yes, two Raw Sewages and a Weapon Fire please."
(Credit: Newsteam.co.uk)For example, a training video involving a real-life village would have the smell of cooking food associated with it, teaching the soldier to associate that village or type of village with that smell.
Then, when the soldier enters the village in real life, the absence of such a smell could signify that the area had been evacuated and taken over by hostile forces. Or that no one was cooking at that time.
Professor Bob Stone, an engineering professor and research director of the Human Factors Integration Defence Technology Centre (HFIDTC, or SHIELD) at Birmingham University, says the scent delivery system, or SDS100, consists of a compressed air chamber with eight compartments and four fans. Each compartment holds a pot of wax, chemically infused with a particular odor.
With 100 scent options available, including "weapon fire," "cat urine," and "human feces," it's no wonder the researchers speculate that this technology could be incorporated into video games "within three to five years" ('cause gamers just love the smell of cat urine).
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(Credit:
Debreu )
There are all manner of activities associated with USB drives--many of them useless--but the one thing that will always defy logic to us is their relationship with the sense of smell. The most recent case in point: The "Scent Drive."
Most such items try to pass themselves off as aromatherapy devices, sometimes combining their functions with other dubious features. But we're beginning to think they're actually targeted at people who are, to put it delicately, hygiene-challenged.
Think about it: Giving them a bar of deodorant soap might be a tad obvious, let alone offensive (even though they're the ones who did the offending first). Instead you can give them an innocent USB key with a surreptious dual purpose.
Hong Kong-based Debreu has expanded its initial line of Scent Drives to include a "lower-cost variation" for $20. We think they should team up with Axe to expand their natural consumer target.
(Credit:
NTT Communications)
After the introduction of scented phones, it was inevitable that more technology playing to the olfactory glands would make its way to the public. Yet we didn't anticipate seeing it put to use in commercial signage.
NTT Communications is doing just that in Tokyo, where it's been experimenting with "its latest aroma-emitting digital sign technology, called 'Kaoru Digital Signage,'" according to Pink Tentacle. And its test site is one of the most significant venues in Japanese culture: a pub. Outside the Kirin City Beer Hall are 19-inch displays that provide aromas to match particular images. But for some reason, rather than the smell of hops and barley, they're emitting such scents as lemon and orange. Go figure.
One interesting technical aspect of the displays is its control via the Web; instructions for particular types of fragrances and their concentration levels can be dictated remotely to cover as much as 5,400 square feet. Which makes us think that NTT had better invest in some security, because the last thing they'd want would be a hacker messing around with this stuff.
(Credit:
Debreu)
We're big on personal hygiene here at Crave--so much so, in fact, that we wish it would be a societal requirement (especially for public transportation). But even the most OCD-afflicted among us aren't sure about the need for scented gadgets.
As if Japan's aroma phones weren't weird enough (and they are), now we hear about a USB drive in a silver bamboo motif from Hong Kong-based Debreu that "holds your favorite scent for up to two hours of use," according to Everything USB.
We're not sure who exactly would want--or need--one of these but, if we see someone using one, we won't be sticking around after those two hours are up.
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