Crave

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).

(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.

When two scents collide.

(Credit: Michael Kanellos/CNET Networks)

CHIBA, Japan--First you had personalized media. Soon, it will be personalized deodorizers.

The SpotScents device, devised by automaker Subaru, consists of two air cannons precisely aimed at a passenger about two feet away in a car. The cannons spritz the passenger with fragrances--there's "Cool Wind" and another one mysteriously called "Pleasure Time." Just the thing you need while driving.

The idea behind SpotScents is that not everyone wants to smell the same fragrance. Some people hate the smell of those little pine trees, after all, while other people hate the smell of dust in the car. Although it has two cannons, the SpotScents thing only blasts one person. The two air streams are supposed to converge on your head--the first picture here shows the pair of streams heading for the collision.

SpotScents at rest.

(Credit: Michael Kanellos/CNET Networks)

Subaru did not put a date out for release, but a representative said it could come out by next year in Japan. In a four-passenger car, of course, you might need to have four SpotScents setups, if everyone is particular about aromas.

Subaru showed SpotScents off during a special tech exhibit over the weekend at Ceatec, the large Japanese trade show that took place here just outside of Tokyo. For more photos of stuff I found there, "Photos: Day 2 at the Ceatec gadget show in Japan."

Is there a big outcry for scented gadgets? The folks at Crave have commented on the uselessness of scented USB drives and the wackiness of aroma phones in Japan, but we may be in store for some more smelly goodness.

It's a smelly phone, but that's a good thing

(Credit: Motorola)

Motorola has received a patent for a handset that releases scents by heating a gel packet, similar to the way plug-in air fresheners work. According to the New Scientist blog, the phone's power amplifier could activate this feature without dramatically altering the phone's design. This is key for Motorola because slim, chic phones, like the Rizr, are the company's bread and butter.

I don't know what Motorola is thinking here. A few months ago, the "Got Milk?" folks spent $300,000 putting cookie-scented strips on bus stops in San Francisco. The campaign lasted about 36 hours because of complaints from riders, a diabetic organization, anti-obesity organizations, and even homeless people. This just shows how invasive smells can be and how each individual has a different definition of what smells good.

And is there any smell that wouldn't get old? If you log a lot a time on your phone, I'm sure even fresh-cut roses or mouth-watering pizza would get annoying.

No word on when these smelly handsets will hit the streets, but I'm sure the public can't wait for phones to shoot out smells on the bus, or in an elevator.

I believe there is far greater promise in gadgets that eliminate odors, but that may just be me.

(Credit: Nikkei Net)

A few months ago we wrote of a rather odd-looking Japanese bot named "Ubiko" whose purpose was somewhat vague--"to replace humans for such tasks as welcoming clients, promote products on site." (The "replacing humans" phrase freaked us out a bit.) Now we find out its true mission: a rolling smoke detector of the future.

Ubiko doesn't just beep when your macaroni and cheese starts to burn; it actually has olfactory sensors designed specifically to react to odors associated with fire. The robot had its first public demonstration yesterday, which Pink Tentacle described thusly: "One room smelled of perfume, one smelled of garlic, one smelled of cigarettes, and one was odorless. When the robot smelled the room with ashtrays, it identified it as likely to catch fire and sent a wireless message to security."

Ubiko still can't put out the fire, but that can't be too far off. In the meantime, if there's any foul play, it can call on its cousin the "Reborg-Q" to handle the perpetrators.

(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.

As Apple made clear with the iPhone last week, touch screens are the next evolutionary step in the development of mobile handsets. But Sony Ericsson is going after another one of the human senses: smell.

The company is making a line of aroma phones for Japan's NTT DoCoMo, according to Reuters, "to relax the users while making calls." (So Japanese in so many ways.) The handsets come with your choice of nine "scented sheets" accompanied by different designs.

Why, one might ask, would anyone want a scented phone? Perhaps it has something to do with countering hygiene-challenged riders on Tokyo subways.

(Credit: Fresh2)

Doesn't it seem like "titanium" is high-tech code for "trust us, it can do anything?" Take this, for example. The makers of the Fresh 2 Light Bulbs, which I read about at Apartment Therapy, claim that the titanium dioxide coating of these light bulbs makes them eliminate odors in the room once they've been turned on for 10 minutes. Cool concept, right?

Apartment Therapy's blogger is pretty skeptical about how well these things actually work, and I must say I'm agreeing for now. Until I've read a concrete review, and/or tried one of these luminous little guys out, I'm going to remain unconvinced that titanium is capable of making stuff smell better.