Computerized Symbolic Olfactory Display Joseph `Jofish` Kaye jofish

Computerized Symbolic Olfactory Display
Joseph ‘Jofish’ Kaye
jofish@media.mit.edu
Xerox PARC
29 July 2001
Contents
1. Abilities & Limitations: How We Smell
2. Prior Work: What We’ve Smelled
Before
3. My Work: What We Can Smell Now
4. Hardware: What Can Make Smells?
5. Future: What Will We Smell?
How
We
Sense
Aroma
• Vibrational
(Dyson 1938,
Wright 1954)
• Lock & Key
(Amoore 1963)
• Electron
tunneling
(Turin 1996)
?
Odor
Quantity
:
We have
≤2 bits
of
precisio
n
Pilot Study I: Mint/Anise Mixtures. N=9
Pilot Study II: Rose Concentrations.
N=10
Odor
‘Quality’
How
Many?
• Engen & Pfaffman 1960: 4
bits.
• Everyone else, later:
Hundreds.
• Why the difference? Naming
isn’t remembering:
• ‘Tip of the nose’ phenomena:
Labeling is everything:
• “Fishy-goaty-oily” vs.
leather
• Complex smells are easier:
coffee vs. l-carvone
Varience
in
individuals
and
population
Individuals vary
significantly in their
abilities to smell
different odors:
specific anosmia
An individual’s variance
over time is as high as
the varience in the
general population.
(Stevens et. al. 1988)
Adaptatio
n
and
Mixtures
People adapt to ambient
smells in under a minute,
(Cain 1974)
A strong smell smelt half an
hour ago will effect how
you perceive smells now.
(Hulshoff Pol et. al 1998)
Mixing smells has
unpredictable results on
the ability to perceive
each.
So…
Conclusion #1:
Using the strength of a
scent to convey
information is
unreliable. You must
use different aromas.
Movies
Section
Computers
Two:
Patents
Prior
Work
Digiscents &
Trisenx
Movies
Ambient:
Aromarama 1958
Smell-o-Vision
1959
Scratch & Sniff:
Polyester 1981
ENO, Ren &
Stimpy, etc.
Sensorama
Prior
Work:
Computer
Related
DiVE
Gaver & Strong: Feather,
Scent & Shaker
Tillitson: Interactive
Olfactory Surfaces
Prior Work:
Sensoram
a
Morton
Heilig, 1962
US Patent
#3,050,870
Virtual
reality
firefighte
r training:
DiVe
J. Cater
(199398)
R. Strong,
W. Gaver
Feather,
Scent and
Shaker:
Supportin
g Simple
Intimacy
CSCW ‘96
Tillitson:
Interactive
Olfactory
Surfaces
Ph.D, Royal
College of
Art, London.
Patents:
Many.
3M,
IBM,
Motorola
,Illinois
…
Digiscents: Hype!
Hype!
Digiscents (No hardware. Some
&
software. Bankrupt.)
Trisenx
TriSenx: Hype! (A little
hardware.)
inStink
Section
Dollars & Scents
Three:
Scent Reminder
My
Work
Honey I’m Home
Scratch & Sniff
inStink
Dollars & Scents
1-bit
NASDAQ
status
Scent
Reminder
Honey,
I’m
Home
Electronic
Scratch
And Sniff
Just
Because
We Could.
Wouldn’t
You?
Trixsenx
Section Perfume Bottle
Four:
“Digiscents”
Hardware
InkJet
Smoke Rings
Section
Five: A
Future for
Computer
Controlle
d Scent
Theory: Icons
Ambient Media/
Calm Computing
Future: Commercial,
Gaming, Learning,
Ubicomp
After initial introduction for
gaming applications, different
types - not quantities - of scents
will be used to display
information for ubiquitous
computing applications.
www.media.mit.edu/~jofish/thesis