Smelling screen

Last updated

A smelling screen is a type of digital scent technology, unveiled in 2013, that combines a display screen, similar to a television or computer monitor, with an odor emitting device capable of pinpointing the smell to a specific portion of the displayed image. It is believed to be the first device to incorporate smells into a television screen, [1] though certainly not the first to synchronize smell with a displayed image (see Digital scent technology).

Contents

Description

The smelling screen combines a digital display with four small fans, one at each corner of the display. Odor stored in tiny gel packets is emitted and blown parallel to the screen. [2] By varying the speed and strength of each fan, an emitted odor is moved to a specific spot on the screen. The fans operate at a very low speed, making it difficult for the user to perceive airflow; instead he or she perceives the smell as coming directly out of the screen and object displayed at that location. [3]

Development

In 2013, a group of researchers from the Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology unveiled a prototype smelling screen to the public at the ACM/IEEE Virtual Reality Conference.[ citation needed ]

The product is in the early stages of development with no plans for commercial distribution in the near future. [3]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Liquid-crystal display</span> Display that uses the light-modulating properties of liquid crystals

A liquid-crystal display (LCD) is a flat-panel display or other electronically modulated optical device that uses the light-modulating properties of liquid crystals combined with polarizers. Liquid crystals do not emit light directly but instead use a backlight or reflector to produce images in color or monochrome.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">RGB color model</span> Color model based on red, green, and blue

The RGB color model is an additive color model in which the red, green and blue primary colors of light are added together in various ways to reproduce a broad array of colors. The name of the model comes from the initials of the three additive primary colors, red, green, and blue.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Flat-panel display</span> Electronic display technology

A flat-panel display (FPD) is an electronic display used to display visual content such as text or images. It is present in consumer, medical, transportation, and industrial equipment.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">LCD projector</span> Type of video projector

An LCD projector is a type of video projector for displaying video, images or computer data on a screen or other flat surface. It is a modern equivalent of the slide projector or overhead projector. To display images, LCD projectors typically send light from a metal-halide lamp through a prism or series of dichroic filters that separates light to three polysilicon panels – one each for the red, green and blue components of the video signal. As polarized light passes through the panels, individual pixels can be opened to allow light to pass or closed to block the light. The combination of open and closed pixels can produce a wide range of colors and shades in the projected image.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gamut</span> Color reproduction capability

In color reproduction and colorimetry, a gamut, or color gamut, is a convex set containing the colors that can be accurately represented, i.e. reproduced by an output device or measured by an input device. Devices with a larger gamut can represent more colors. Similarly, gamut may also refer to the colors within a defined color space, which is not linked to a specific device. A trichromatic gamut is often visualized as a color triangle. A less common usage defines gamut as the subset of colors contained within an image, scene or video.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Display device</span> Output device for presentation of information in visual form

A display device is an output device for presentation of information in visual or tactile form. When the input information that is supplied has an electrical signal the display is called an electronic display.

A television set or television receiver is an electronic device for the purpose of viewing and hearing television broadcasts, or as a computer monitor. It combines a tuner, display, and loudspeakers. Introduced in the late 1920s in mechanical form, television sets became a popular consumer product after World War II in electronic form, using cathode ray tube (CRT) technology. The addition of color to broadcast television after 1953 further increased the popularity of television sets in the 1960s, and an outdoor antenna became a common feature of suburban homes. The ubiquitous television set became the display device for the first recorded media for consumer use in the 1970s, such as Betamax, VHS; these were later succeeded by DVD. It has been used as a display device since the first generation of home computers and dedicated video game consoles in the 1980s. By the early 2010s, flat-panel television incorporating liquid-crystal display (LCD) technology, especially LED-backlit LCD technology, largely replaced CRT and other display technologies. Modern flat panel TVs are typically capable of high-definition display and can also play content from a USB device. Starting in the late 2010s, most flat panel TVs began to offer 4K and 8K resolutions.

Smell-O-Vision is a system that released odor during the projection of a film so that the viewer could "smell" what was happening in the movie. Created by Hans Laube, the technique made its only appearance in the 1960 film Scent of Mystery, produced by Mike Todd Jr., son of film producer Mike Todd. The process injected 30 odors into a movie theater's seats when triggered by the film's soundtrack.

A volumetric display device is a display device that forms a visual representation of an object in three physical dimensions, as opposed to the planar image of traditional screens that simulate depth through a number of different visual effects. One definition offered by pioneers in the field is that volumetric displays create 3D imagery via the emission, scattering, or relaying of illumination from well-defined regions in (x,y,z) space.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sensorama</span> Early virtual reality system

The Sensorama was a machine that is one of the earliest known examples of immersive, multi-sensory technology. This technology, which was introduced in 1962 by Morton Heilig, is considered one of the earliest virtual reality (VR) systems.

The following are common definitions related to the machine vision field.

Laser color television, or laser color video display, is a type of television that utilizes two or more individually modulated optical (laser) rays of different colors to produce a combined spot that is scanned and projected across the image plane by a polygon-mirror system or less effectively by optoelectronic means to produce a color-television display. The systems work either by scanning the entire picture a dot at a time and modulating the laser directly at high frequency, much like the electron beams in a cathode ray tube, or by optically spreading and then modulating the laser and scanning a line at a time, the line itself being modulated in much the same way as with digital light processing (DLP).

<i>Scent of Mystery</i> 1960 American smell-o-vision film by Jack Cardiff

Scent of Mystery is a 1960 American mystery film, the first to use the Smell-O-Vision system to release odors at points in the film's plot. It was the first film in which aromas were integral to the story, providing important details to the audience. It was produced by Mike Todd, Jr., who, in conjunction with his father Mike Todd, had produced such spectacles as This Is Cinerama and Around the World in Eighty Days.

The iSmell is a commercial application of digital scent technology. Personal Scent Synthesizer developed by DigiScents Inc. was a small device that can be connected to a computer through a USB port and powered using any ordinary electrical outlet. The appearance of the device is similar to that of a shark's fin, with many holes lining the "fin" to release the various scents. Using a cartridge similar to a printer's, it can synthesize and even create new smells from certain combinations of other scents. These newly created odors can be used to closely replicate common natural and man-made odors. The cartridges used also need to be swapped every so often once the scents inside are used up. Once partnered with websites and interactive media, the scents can be activated either automatically once a website is opened or manually. However, the product is no longer on the market and never generated substantial sales. Digiscent had plans for the iSmell to have several versions but did not progress past the prototype stage. The company did not last long and filed for bankruptcy a short time after.

Display motion blur, also called HDTV blur and LCD motion blur, refers to several visual artifacts that are frequently found on modern consumer high-definition television sets and flat panel displays for computers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">LED-backlit LCD</span> Display technology implementation

An LED-backlit LCD is a liquid-crystal display that uses LEDs for backlighting instead of traditional cold cathode fluorescent (CCFL) backlighting. LED-backlit displays use the same TFT LCD technologies as CCFL-backlit LCDs, but offer a variety of advantages over them.

Time multiplexed optical shutter (TMOS) is a flat panel display technology developed, patented and commercialized by Uni-Pixel Displays, Inc. TMOS is based on the principles of total internal reflection (TIR), frustration of TIR (FTIR) and field sequential colour generation (FSC). This combination of features make it suitable for applications such as mobile phones, televisions and signalling systems.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Digital scent technology</span> The study of smelling things through a computer

Digital scent technology is the engineering discipline dealing with olfactory representation. It is a technology to sense, transmit and receive scent-enabled digital media. The sensing part of this technology works by using olfactometers and electronic noses.

Laser-powered phosphor display (LPD) is a large-format display technology similar to the cathode ray tube (CRT). Prysm, Inc., a video wall designer and manufacturer in Silicon Valley, California, invented and patented the LPD technology. The key components of the LPD technology are its TD2 tiles, its image processor, and its backing frame that supports LPD tile arrays. The company unveiled the LPD in January 2010.

Scentography is the technique of creating and storing odor by artificially recreating a smell using chemical and electronic means.

References

  1. Brian Sin (April 2, 2013). "The smell-o-vision TV implements scents with your favorite TV programs". Slash Gear. Retrieved April 3, 2013.
  2. "Smell-o-vision screens let you really smell the coffee". New Scientist. March 29, 2013. Retrieved April 3, 2013.
  3. 1 2 Amanda Kooser (April 2, 2013). "Japanese scientists create 'Smell-O-Vision' screen". CNET. Retrieved April 3, 2013.