Difference between revisions of "Smell-O-Vision"

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Having the ability to access and use the technology is also only one small part of the equation. There also needs to be a need. The novelty of a smelling movie would only last so long before audience members would grow tiresome. Unless the technology could be used to accent the visual there would be no reason for the medium to continue to be used. In the case of The Scent of Mystery, the scents released into the theater were in some small way pertinent to the solving of the murder in the film, however not many films involve aromas as a major part of the story. For the average movie-going experience it seems the smells would more likely detract from the experience. It would be impossible to recreate every scent encountered in the film, and by emitting only certain odors, the attention given to them might distract viewers.
 
Having the ability to access and use the technology is also only one small part of the equation. There also needs to be a need. The novelty of a smelling movie would only last so long before audience members would grow tiresome. Unless the technology could be used to accent the visual there would be no reason for the medium to continue to be used. In the case of The Scent of Mystery, the scents released into the theater were in some small way pertinent to the solving of the murder in the film, however not many films involve aromas as a major part of the story. For the average movie-going experience it seems the smells would more likely detract from the experience. It would be impossible to recreate every scent encountered in the film, and by emitting only certain odors, the attention given to them might distract viewers.
  
While all of these are legitimate reasons for the failure of the technology, it is also important to consider the role of the observer, or in this case, the smell-er in this new technology. In his book ''Techniques of the Observer,'' Jonathan Crary, he discusses the way in which an observer needed to be trained to accept and read certain new types of visual content. One could argue a similar understanding needs to be available to those who read smells. Throughout history there has been very little focus on referent for using smell as a way to communicate messages, thus people have little experience in a cultural or ideological sense in how to categorize or understand the role of scent in messages. Smell-O-Vision may have failed because the forces allowing audiences to integrate scent into their experience did not converge and create the environment for smelling to be a legitimate part of the film-going experience.
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While all of these are legitimate reasons for the failure of the technology, it is also important to consider the role of the observer, or in this case, the smell-er in this new technology. In his book ''Techniques of the Observer,'' Jonathan Crary discusses the way in which an observer needed to be trained to accept and read certain new types of visual content. One could argue a similar understanding needs to be available to those who read smells. Throughout history there has been very little focus on referent for using smell as a way to communicate messages, thus people have little experience in a cultural or ideological sense in how to categorize or understand the role of scent in messages. Smell-O-Vision may have failed because the forces allowing audiences to integrate scent into their experience did not converge and create the environment for smelling to be a legitimate part of the film-going experience.
  
 
==Is Smell-O-Vision Dead?==
 
==Is Smell-O-Vision Dead?==

Revision as of 18:49, 28 March 2010

Looking for new ways to appeal to audiences after the popularization of television, Smell-O-Vision attempted to introduce a third sense into the film viewing process by piping scents related to the on-screen images into the movie theater through small vents in the back of each theater seat. The novelty did not catch on and due to various complications brought on by the endeavor, only one film, The Scent of Mystery, was ever released with the technology.


Technology

There were a few small attempts to involve the sense of smell in the film-going experience throughout the early days of cinema, but Smell-O-Vision attempted to technologize the idea in a way that had never been done before. The process involved adding a high frequency sound into the soundtrack that would direct the Smell-O-Vision machine to release one of the scents stored on a rotating rack.

Unlike other attempts to add smell to visual entertainment, Smell-O-Vision required converting the entire theater to suit the technology as wires need to be installed throughout the entire theater. This results in an increase in costs, as well as, potentially, more opportunity for problems if the wires were to break or become disconnected. To release the scent, the machine would send a small bit of the scent with a high amount of pressure into a small set of tubes that wrapped around each row in the theater. At each seat there was a small perforation in the tube, allowing a the scent to release for the intended enjoyment of the audience member. The scents themselves were chemically manufactured.


Analysis

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As a failed technology, it is almost too easy to look back on Smell-O-Vision and understand why it failed to have the impression its creators had hoped, although clearly not all of these issues were apparent during the development of the novelty.

One major problem comes from the nature of smells. They are rather ephemeral, and depending on various environmental factors within the theater, such as airflow and ventilation, as well as the strength of the smell itself, the smell may linger longer or disappear more quickly than intended which may cause some film-goers to miss out on some of the scents at all and may lead others to experience an unfavorable mixing of unrelated aromas. Additionally, the technology works under the assumption that there will be no other scents in the theater to get in the way. However, if someone had a big bucket of buttery popcorn, or someone was wearing very strong perfume it would intrude on the experience and muddy the scents released.

Another major problem with Smell-O-Vision is the limited access to produce and use the technology. The technology was not easy to use. Not only did it require the actual machine (or instructions on how to build it), it also required the expensive process of reformatting a theater to suit the technology. Additionally, not everyone had the time, energy, or knowledge, to mix different chemicals together to produce the desired odors. Although it would be possible for others to learn this information, the costs associated with training and the extra work made it unappealing.

Having the ability to access and use the technology is also only one small part of the equation. There also needs to be a need. The novelty of a smelling movie would only last so long before audience members would grow tiresome. Unless the technology could be used to accent the visual there would be no reason for the medium to continue to be used. In the case of The Scent of Mystery, the scents released into the theater were in some small way pertinent to the solving of the murder in the film, however not many films involve aromas as a major part of the story. For the average movie-going experience it seems the smells would more likely detract from the experience. It would be impossible to recreate every scent encountered in the film, and by emitting only certain odors, the attention given to them might distract viewers.

While all of these are legitimate reasons for the failure of the technology, it is also important to consider the role of the observer, or in this case, the smell-er in this new technology. In his book Techniques of the Observer, Jonathan Crary discusses the way in which an observer needed to be trained to accept and read certain new types of visual content. One could argue a similar understanding needs to be available to those who read smells. Throughout history there has been very little focus on referent for using smell as a way to communicate messages, thus people have little experience in a cultural or ideological sense in how to categorize or understand the role of scent in messages. Smell-O-Vision may have failed because the forces allowing audiences to integrate scent into their experience did not converge and create the environment for smelling to be a legitimate part of the film-going experience.

Is Smell-O-Vision Dead?

Smell-O-Vision was not the only attempt in its time to introduce smells into film, and it hasn't been the only attempt since. From Scratch-n-Sniff cards handed out before movies (or occasionally TV shows) to the use of single scents being dispersed through the ventilation systems, introducing smell into the viewing of motion pictures will likely be a novelty people will continue to play with, but due to the failure of Smell-O-Vision, it is unlikely it will ever be attempted on such a broad scale anytime soon.

While there may have potentially been (and still would be) a number of uses for this technology (advertising is a good example) it was only used once for an entertainment film. In the case of Smell-O-Vision, the medium really was the message. The specific scents released and their relationship with the film text were rather extraneous. Smell-O-Vision was a novelty, intended to bring people into the theater for the sheer fun of experiencing this new technology. Perhaps had the media lasted longer and developed into a legitimate aspect of filmic storytelling the content would have become more relevant, but as is we will never know.