Shulou(Shulou.com)11/24 Report--

So far, the third sense has not been as successful as the third dimension.

In August 2016, to advertise "South Park: broken integrity" (South Park:The Fractured But Whole), which will be released four months later, Ubisoft launched a headset that perfectly matches the game's theme: the Nosolus Rift.

South Park is a parody game, and one of the core mechanisms of the game is farting. The only purpose of Nosolus Rift is to emit fart smell when players choose to fart.

Nosolus Rift opened to the public for the first and only time at the Cologne Game Show that year. According to foreign media Polygon, Ubisoft not only prepares fart smell, but also sets a variety of disgusting flavors: smoothies that have been kept for five weeks, milk that has become solid, rotten fruit and meat, gorilla droppings, airport bathrooms, moldy wet clothes.

Fortunately, Ubisoft did not put this anti-human device on the market, but only used it as a means of promotion. When "broken and complete" goes on sale, no one remembers it anymore. Come to think of it, who in their right mind is willing to buy an entertainment device that specializes in fart smell.

However, Nosolus Rift has at least demonstrated the feasibility of mobilizing the sense of smell in the visual experience. Compared with touch and taste, the acceptance of smell is more passive, and the technical difficulty of simulating smell is much lower.

But this brings another problem. Now that the technical conditions are complete, we just need to replace the smell with a smell that is acceptable to most people. So why haven't we seen the widespread popularity of devices that can "smell" games or videos?

As early as more than a hundred years ago, people have tried various means to mobilize the sense of smell, which is always despised but can not be ignored, in the process of playing plays and movies.

Some 19th-century stage playwrights introduced scents into their plays, such as scattering pine needles in the auditorium to hint at the smell of the forest, or bringing real food into the theatre to simulate the aroma of restaurants.

The first application of smell in movies was earlier than the emergence of audio films. In 1906, the owner of a family theater in Pennsylvania thought of putting a piece of skimmed cotton soaked in rose essential oil in front of an electric fan.

According to Variety magazine, a short film called "the Story of Flowers" was released in 1916. The Rivoli Theatre in New York specially prepared a device to spray perfume on the audience for the full time, but it hasn't been used since the screening.

In 1929, the silent love movie Lilac Time was released at the Fenway Theater in Boston. The theater manager poured the clove oil directly into the ventilation system so that the audience could feel the fragrance of the clove the moment the title of the film appeared on the big screen.

At this stage, the theatre only uses a single-scented perfume and less molding equipment. Until the 1940s, when compressed air technology was applied, theater owners finally thought of the possibility of releasing a variety of odors. Once the movie reaches a critical point, the staff will put the corresponding smell of air into the air conditioner and allow it to spread along the ventilation system to the audience.

In 1940, the western "prosperous Town" (Boom Town) was released at the Vogue Theater in Detroit. The theater is equipped with compressed air. When an oil well appears on the screen, it sprays the smell of oil at the audience, and when the heroine appears, she changes it to perfume.

"Prosperity Town" newspaper advertisement "Variety" magazine made a follow-up report. The theater once boasted that the mixture of smell and action "brings a new dimension to the screen". After the screening, the theatre distributed comment cards to the audience for comments, and more than 80% of the audience were said to be satisfied with the smell they smelled.

In view of the rising economic strength of the United States at that time, its film industry also developed rapidly until it took the lead in the world. As a result, most of the early attempts to introduce a sense of smell into films were conceived and pioneered by American theater owners, rather than part of the film itself.

These attempts inevitably have some defects. First of all, the fragrance is far-fetched by the theater owner and will be bound in the existing film, which runs counter to the film aesthetics and may distract some of the focus that the director wants the audience to pay attention to.

Secondly, because of the large scale of the theater, if you want the smell to come into contact with all the audience, you must release a sufficient dose of gas, which is easy to cause olfactory fatigue.

For example, people with smelly feet find it difficult to smell their own feet. When humans are exposed to large doses of odor molecules for a long time, they will temporarily lose their ability to distinguish smells until certain odor molecules disappear completely. If the theater needs to release a variety of gases, and the odors are mixed with each other, the audience's sense of smell will become extremely confused and can not achieve the desired effect.

A Swiss inventor named Hans Lauber (Hans Laube) conquered the technical problem of olfactory fatigue for the first time.

Robert is a person who is particularly sensitive to smell and believes that everything on earth, including emotion, has smell. As a result, most of the inventions in Robert's life have to do with the sense of smell, one of which is the Scent to Vision (bring smell to vision) system.

This independent and complete system no longer relies on ventilation, but uses separate pipes to transport odorous chemicals to each seat separately. The projectionist does not need to use it, only needs to operate a control board with a dial, which can remotely release a variety of odors to the audience, and can also adjust the delivery time and amount of aroma.

Robert was the first to discover that a photo of Robert at the New York World Expo created a sense of smell experience in the film, which was essentially a chemical problem.

The aromatic substances in perfume are generally dissolved in a certain "deodorant", which slows down their volatilization, prolongs the retention time of the aroma, and causes the audience's sense of smell fatigue.

In order to separate aromatic substances and deodorant, Robert chose diatomite with strong water absorption. He mixed perfume and diatomite into a paste and used it to draw a vacuum or blow it with hot air. In this way, the deodorant is left in the diatomite, and the aromatic substances will volatilize quickly, and then be eliminated by the ventilation equipment in a short time, which perfectly solves the problem that the smell can not be dispersed.

Scent to Vision made its debut during the 1940 World Expo in New York. The first film to use the system was the 35-minute Swiss film "my Dream" (Mein Traum), which used 32 different smells. The response from the audience was quite positive. The New York Times recorded that the smell of the film was "just right", but the smell of bacon was not very real.

The publicity poster invented by Robert at the New York World Expo unfortunately Robert's invention was born at an untimely time and failed to arouse the interest of film practitioners for more than a decade. In the 1940s, Europe and the United States were busy fighting and recovering; in the 1950s, 3D and wide-screen films became the industry trend, and Robert could not steal the limelight. He tried to push his invention to the burgeoning television industry, to no avail, and put forward to supermarkets the idea of projecting food while releasing fragrance, which was also ignored.

Today's "magic technology" began to take shape in the last century, and it was only in 1955 that Robert received sponsorship from Michael Todd, the producer of "80 days around the World." The following year, Todd died in a private plane accident, and his son Mike Todd Jr. Took over. Little Todd and Robert signed an agreement, one of which was to change the name of the system to the similar but more colloquial "Smell-O-Vision".

Rob's equipment has also been updated with the renaming. He designed a human-free, fully automatic "olfactory brain" (smell brain) and prepared an electric conveyor belt to tie containers of scented perfume to it in turn.

When the movie is shown, the conveyor belt moves along with the film film, and the mark on the perfume container prompts "brain". At the specified time, a needle is used to pierce the film at the bottom of the container and suck out the perfume. An electric fan mixes the perfume with a certain amount of air and pumps it through pipes into the vents under each seat.

One of the patented drawings of "Smell-O-Vision" 3 Little Todd plans to use Robert's invention in his first work, "Scent of Mystery". Mysterious aroma is a suspense film about a photographer who discovers a murder plot against an heiress while on vacation in Spain and looks for the woman with the help of a taxi driver to track down who is behind it.

Mysterious aroma, a photo of little Todd, Robert, and the olfactory brain, is the first film to incorporate smell into the storyline-smell provides the audience with key clues. The smell of the pipe indicates that the killer has been to the scene, while the smell of perfume is the mark left by the heiress.

The smell outside the plot is more like a show of skill. The system produces the scent of flowers when the camera passes by the monastery's rose garden. When the barrel rolls against the wall, the system will smell of grape juice. A freshly baked loaf of bread is pushed to the camera for no reason, just to let the audience feel the aroma of the bread.

Little Todd trumpeted the film and Robert's system, raising public expectations. A slogan before the film's release read: "at first, they moved (1895)! then they can talk (1927)! now, they can smell it! (1959)" juxtaposed "the aroma of Mystery" with the first film of 1895 and the first audio film of 1927 as an advance in the film industry.

The "mysterious aroma" poster can be released on the eve of the movie, when a dark horse suddenly appeared and rubbed off the heat bought by little Todd.

The dark horse is a travels to China filmed by an Italian director. When it was introduced to the United States, it was called behind the Great Wall (Behind the Great Wall). It won an award in Europe, and the owner of the film, Walter Reade Jr Jr., felt that it could also be popular in the United States, and maybe add some flavor to make a more impressive impression, such as grass, earth, firecrackers, river, smoky, horse, tiger.

The only remaining "behind the Great Wall" stills on the internet is the "AromaRama" (fragrant panoramic) system invented by Charles Weiss, his public relations director, in two and a half years. The name alludes to the first panoramic film (Cinerama) in 1952 and, like Smell-O-Vision, likens itself to some kind of innovation.

Instead of using a conveyor belt, the poster "AromaRama" of "behind the Great Wall" adds a "scent track" to the film film, which is automatically identified by electronic triggers and emits scents across the theater through the ventilation system-similar to what theater owners did 20 or 30 years ago. Because there is no need to lay separate pipes for each seat, "AromaRama" is cheaper, and the cost of installing an entire theater is only 1/3 of that of "Smell-O-Vision".

As for olfactory fatigue, AromaRama plugs an electrified baffle into the exhaust system to capture and precipitate odorous particles during exhaust.

Two films, two systems, there must be a war. Variety magazine rated the competition between the two as "the battle of the smellies", and other media also scrambled to see them fight to the death. According to Newsweek, the outcome of the war "probably depends on which side has the best smell."

But none of them had the last laugh.

Behind the Great Wall was first released at the end of 1959. New York Times film critic Bosley Krausse (Bosley Crowther) severely criticized the smell of the film, saying that the accuracy of the smell is capricious and "artistic value is zero." He added that the air in the cinema was easily confused, accompanied by a "sticky sweetness" and speculated that the exhaust system did not work as expected.

Time magazine also pointed out that many smells are fake synthetic odors. For example, a beautiful old pine forest in Beijing smells like a "subway lounge". The smell is not always eliminated as quickly as the scene requires. Some viewers see the picture of the Gobi Desert, but their noses clearly smell the grass.

Mysterious aroma landed on the cinema a month later, attracting even harsher comments from Krausse. In contrast to "AromaRama", the smell of "Smell-O-Vision" is so light that the audience has to "sniff like a hound and try to catch the smell". Krausse suggested that little Todd spray laughing gas directly into the audience because "the film's acting and script are as sparse as the smell."

Variety magazine quoted viewers' complaints that the smell came only a few seconds after the action on the screen was broadcast, especially in the upstairs box than downstairs. In addition, the gas is accompanied by a "hiss" sound, distracting the audience.

By contrast, "behind the Great Wall" itself is of excellent quality, and removing the smell can save the box office. "mysterious aroma" is different, the wrong smell is equivalent to losing the whole game. Although the staff have made a series of technical adjustments, negative comments from the media and viewers have spread, and the box office reputation of "mysterious aroma" can not be recovered.

Since then, "AromaRama" has disappeared, and little Todd has shelved plans to install "Smell-O-Vision" in his cinemas. "mysterious aroma" has also been adapted into a tasteless version and renamed "Spanish Holiday". Considering that its nature is tantamount to dumplings made for that little vinegar, the fate of removing the smell experience can be imagined.

The only promotional point left in "Spanish Holiday" is the panoramic film, which made Robert ruined and completely bankrupt, died gloomily in 1976, and died almost penniless. During that time, he was still working on gadgets, such as electronic fragrances or deodorants, but no one was interested. Smell-O-Vision, which he left behind, has become a classic negative case in the history of film, as well as the joke of a small number of fans.

When the comedy movie "Polyester" was released in 1981, the American director John Waters remembered "mysterious aroma" and decided to pay homage to Robert, using an ultra-low-tech variant: scratch cards.

The set of cards is called "Odorama", and each card contains 10 sections with serial numbers, corresponding to 10 odors, including unpleasant feces, smelly shoes and skunk-Ubisoft is probably inspired by this. The film will send a signal at the corresponding time to tell the audience to scratch and smell the section with a specified serial number.

Odorama cards, as a way of conveying smell, have also not been popularized, with only a few movies and TV cartoons for children that have issued similar cards. Ironically, only a few years later, "Spanish Holiday" was re-released, and scratch card technology was also used to restore the smell.

Maybe Waters never wanted it to be popular. The 2004 release of "Pineapple Fat" DVD comes with a comment session in which Waters giggles and says: "I can't believe I asked the audience to pay for shit!" (I actually got the audience to pay to smell shit! )

In theme parks and amusement parks in the same period, olfactory devices have gradually become a gimmick to deceive customers' consumption. It is combined with tilting seats, water-spraying showerheads, and uneven quality 3D films to create so-called "4D movies" that many people do not want to see again after they have seen it once.

(5) in the 21st century, dozens of versions of "Smell-O-Vision" have made a comeback with the attitude of miniaturization, digitalization and intelligence. In 2006, for example, Japanese network operator NTT tried a technology to release the floral atmosphere during the screening of the film New World, replacing the conveyor belt and console used by Robert with a network cable and a unified computer driver.

The technical principle chart shows that only a small number of seats can enjoy such benefits outside the traditional film industry, there are also a number of devices that provide olfactory experience, which are actively attached to virtual reality (VR) technology and voluntarily serve as peripheral pendants for headsets of other manufacturers. VR devices are not something that can be easily sold, not to mention the sales of odor peripherals, and most startups' devices die without leaving their names.

The last ideal appearance of olfactory devices was at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) earlier this year. A Japanese company attending the meeting is called AromaJoin, a product called Aroma Shooter, which uses "solid" ink cartridges that are said to make the smell better and more lasting, rather than liquid or gas diffusion odors. The size and weight of its latest model is equivalent to that of a larger neck-hanging Bluetooth headset.

The latest model, Aroma Shooter Wearable, needs to be used with the "first olfactory video platform" Aroma Player. The video platform is in line with Youtube, and like a video editor, it can program Youtube videos in advance and arrange the device to jet at a specified time, which smell, how long, and how much dose can be customized by users.

Aroma Shooter was also the first device to try to introduce smell into Japanese animation. Officials quoted footage of "Cyberpunk: marginal Walker" and "Flower Marriage in five parts" to promote PV at the exhibition, which is intended to make users smell the heroine on the screen.

Even with the help of despicable publicity, the device still cannot escape the fate that no one will buy it. Aroma Player has few visitors and users, and very few custom clips uploaded by users.

Even after more than a century of evolution, olfactory devices are still awkward, even more awkward than VR devices: expensive, but not worth experiencing. Aroma Shooter, for example, costs $998a set, which is enough to buy a pair of VR glasses.

More than 60 years ago, little Todd never thought that "Smell-O-Vision" was a serious invention; not even Robert himself. Robert's idea is that the system itself has aesthetic limitations, heavy works can not be emotionally integrated with the smell, while relaxed works are suitable to enhance the atmosphere with smell.

Compared with the vision and hearing that entertainment equipment mainly depends on, the sense of smell is more secondary and passive, and most audio-visual works can complete normal narration without the assistance of olfactory equipment; works of art that use smell alone, it is not necessarily accepted by today's human aesthetic. Numerous cases have proved that the introduction of smell can at most add icing on the cake and play up the atmosphere, and inappropriate or inappropriate smell will distract the audience and have the opposite effect.

For example, the unique perfume in the movie "Perfume" is unlikely to be restored by artificial synthesis and linked to VR technology is a good way out. If the future VR devices can finally mobilize all the human senses to reach the technical level of the V gadget in the "three-body" or the NerveGear in the "sword realm", then the olfactory device will also emerge. In order for this day to come earlier, there is no doubt that we need more "Robert" who advance the course of history in obscurity.

This article is from the official account of Wechat: game Research Society (ID:yysaag), author: Zhaoyue

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