Comments on: Smell-o-Vision

Smell-o-Vision

the man of twists and turns — Mon, 07 Jul 2014 19:32:14 -0800

Last month, an oNote was sent across the Atlantic via the oPhone, and the recipients were treated to the scent of champagne and macarons.

More on Christophe Laudamiel and David Edwards

By: Madamina

Madamina — Mon, 07 Jul 2014 19:34:15 -0800

Counting down to the first transatlantic fart in three... two... one...

By: cortex

cortex — Mon, 07 Jul 2014 20:02:56 -0800

Mostly it's just going to be kids posting smellfies.

By: Atom Eyes

Atom Eyes — Mon, 07 Jul 2014 20:04:29 -0800

"Mr. Watson, come here. I want to sniff you."

By: JHarris

JHarris — Mon, 07 Jul 2014 20:10:10 -0800

Someone remind me, wasn't there a reason that Odorama never took off? I remember seeing a gimmick once in a store that was like compact discs for smells. That, too, I'd imagine failed in the vaunted marketplace for some reason.

By: cortex

cortex — Mon, 07 Jul 2014 20:13:25 -0800

Rachel Field told me that the team has developed a "barf" cartridge, filled with four particularly disgusting odours, but that those aromas are not yet publicly available through the oNote system.

God, it's like they're trying to fail.

By: oceanjesse

oceanjesse — Mon, 07 Jul 2014 20:16:09 -0800

Do you know how amazing this would be for vacation photos? Being able to smell the cool humid morning hike, being able to smell the sizzle of foreign street food, being able to smell the salty breeze? I really really really hope this becomes a thing. Smell brings us one step closer to our memories, and memories are all we have in this world.

By: Sophont

Sophont — Mon, 07 Jul 2014 20:16:54 -0800

Digiscents circa 2001 was once known as one of the worst tech failures of all time. Why is it back?

By: flabdablet

flabdablet — Mon, 07 Jul 2014 20:22:00 -0800

Because vaporware never gets old.

By: unliteral

unliteral — Mon, 07 Jul 2014 20:31:47 -0800

I'm sure potsmokinghippieoverlord and telstar will have something to say about this. It's like it's 1999.

By: telstar

telstar — Mon, 07 Jul 2014 20:32:46 -0800

I worked at Digiscents! It was ridiculous, surreal, smelly, and when the company folded I suggested to the principles that there was a book in the experience somewhere. Wonder if I should start writing it?

By: unliteral

unliteral — Mon, 07 Jul 2014 20:34:18 -0800

Like I said...

By: telstar

telstar — Mon, 07 Jul 2014 20:40:22 -0800

Didn't preview and now just seeing your comment, unilateral. Which leads to the very delicate question: who is potsmokinghippieoverlord? Metafilter, do I want to know?

By: kozad

kozad — Mon, 07 Jul 2014 20:48:48 -0800

The antique version, and an image of the original card (I wish I still had one!) from John Waters' Polyester. It was so much communal fun watching the Waters' film: 8 out of 10 smells elicited a collective "eww" (like funky sneakers or farts under the sheets), but a nice rose-scented spray ended the film. Ahhh.

By: TheWhiteSkull

TheWhiteSkull — Mon, 07 Jul 2014 20:52:20 -0800

Good news, everyone!

By: boilermonster

boilermonster — Mon, 07 Jul 2014 22:10:50 -0800

The Skatol,Cadaverine and Putrescine smells will be available as a option ,they will be bundled with the entire Mercaptan group.

By: the man of twists and turns

the man of twists and turns — Mon, 07 Jul 2014 22:24:29 -0800

Good thing there's no selenophenol or isocyanide.

By: Cranberry

Cranberry — Mon, 07 Jul 2014 23:06:34 -0800

The possibilities for abuse are endless. Send skunk to your enemies, or the idiot who fired you unjustly. Send one odor after another until the recipient is gasping for fresh air.

By: potsmokinghippieoverlord

potsmokinghippieoverlord — Tue, 08 Jul 2014 00:11:40 -0800

Which leads to the very delicate question: who is potsmokinghippieoverlord? Metafilter, do I want to know? Hmmmph.

By: QueerAngel28

QueerAngel28 — Tue, 08 Jul 2014 02:24:48 -0800

Having grown up across the street from Rush Limbaugh....I can see where this is going. O-bomb-a. Imagine the horrors! The racist, racist horrors.

By: kewb

kewb — Tue, 08 Jul 2014 04:21:59 -0800

Do you know how amazing this would be for vacation photos? Being able to smell the cool humid morning hike, being able to smell the sizzle of foreign street food, being able to smell the salty breeze? The problem with similar technology in the past has always been that it doesn't generate the actual sensory experience of a particular place, but rather a "best approximation" based on the bank or storehouse of artificially formulated odors. You not only need to identify the particular mix of odors and sources on your morning hike or at your preferred seaside venue, you also need to identify the proportions of odors and hope the device has the right combination and the precision to make the mix work. The scents and memory triggers of a cool morning walk in the Piedmont are not like those of someone else's cool morning walk in the Pacific Northwest or on the lake shore of Chicago or wherever. With that in mind, "foreign street food" example seems especially difficult to replicate in this regard. As Odorama, Digiscents, and the like have proven, there's an "uncanny valley" for scent, especially because our memory is so attuned to it. If that seaside breeze doesn't smell just right, it will be discomforting and obtrusive rather than acting as a pleasant mnemonic enhancement.

By: effbot

effbot — Tue, 08 Jul 2014 05:24:20 -0800

smell the salty breeze? posted by oceanjesse Eponystericus olfactorius.

By: oceanjesse

oceanjesse — Tue, 08 Jul 2014 13:08:40 -0800

So this is like the e-cigs of memory smells.

By: twsf

twsf — Sat, 12 Jul 2014 16:28:33 -0800

OMG telstar, I had a headhunter recruiting me hard to come interview with Digiscent. I couldn't stop laughing. I did, though, get lots of mileage out of it at dinner parties for months afterward...