ARCHANGEL Posted May 4, 2000 Share Posted May 4, 2000 Yesterday I was watching the business news, as I usually do, when I saw part of a rather intersting story. An company in Tel Aviv has develpoed a card you install in the computer that somehow makes you think you are smelling what ever is triggered on the screen. For instance, if you click on an icon of a strawberry, you will get that smell. That is wild enough, BUT...they expect to add smells like musty hallways to Doom etc. Imagine the smells of the firefight in CM... MY own war experiences have long since lead me to think that if more people had been in a real firefight they might be less combative in real life...BUT, that aside...think of the possiblilites for CM...the buring tanks, the charred flesh, the cordite, the sweat, the sweet smell of the blood ....all on your computer for $90.00 And we haven't even addressed the potential from video pron with smells....no more scrath n' sniff for that crowd... Anyway, just keeping you all advised of the latest in innovative computer tech. [This message has been edited by ARCHANGEL (edited 05-04-2000).] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Black Sabot Posted May 4, 2000 Share Posted May 4, 2000 Well, if smells are included in CM, then may i make a small suggestion. DO NOT zoom in too close to the green squad that just panicked, or else you'll get a whiff of battle like no other, if you know what i mean Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Ol' Blood & Guts Posted May 4, 2000 Share Posted May 4, 2000 <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Black Sabot: DO NOT zoom in too close to the green squad that just panicked, or else you'll get a whiff of battle like no other, if you know what i mean <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> LOL! Ahhh, you don't like the smell of a good ol' fart? Nothing can clear the sinuses like a good one of those. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fionn Posted May 4, 2000 Share Posted May 4, 2000 Hmm, technically it is feasible since smell is only a product of the vibration of various molecules and can, thus, be synthesised by machinery in the absence of anything organic, However, there are two issues. 1. IF it is for real then how long would the card last? 2. It very much sounds like a hoax since I have difficulty believing that this hardware can interface with games written before it was even released. Perhaps it is a pre-alpha and it is just going public so as to secure venture capital? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
medlinke Posted May 4, 2000 Share Posted May 4, 2000 Actually this is the real deal. The Sega Corp has developers working on a similar product for their dreamcast KEith Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Ol' Blood & Guts Posted May 4, 2000 Share Posted May 4, 2000 If I'm not mistaken, "they" experimented with Smellovision years ago, and it failed miserably mainly because it was highly impractical. Or was it smell-interactive movies? Hell I don't know, but the result was the same. ------------------ "Why don't we say that we took this one chance, and fought!" "Stupid humans. Hahahahahahaha!" --from the film Battlefield Earth Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ARCHANGEL Posted May 4, 2000 Author Share Posted May 4, 2000 Fionn, This is for real, man. Over here we hugely get business news from a cable channel called CNBC..(it is also a bit international too, tho). They are right on and I am only aware of one hoax that was pulled on them...and this ain't it. I may have been mistaken about DOOM, but the game they showed in the story looked like Doom or something akin to it...since I am not up to speed on the various games like that, I must have missed the actual game they mentioned. None-the-less, they DO have this gear and it IS going to be for sale soon enough...personally, I can live with out it...(especially in CM), but I can see a future where this will be yet another aspect of game/sim creation and an additional cost to harware buyers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allan Posted May 4, 2000 Share Posted May 4, 2000 <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Fionn: However, there are two issues. 1. IF it is for real then how long would the card last? <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Exactly. Smell requires molecules from the source to actually come in contact with the olfactory (sp?) region in your nose. This would require the formation of esters or other such compounds by the card. Thus the card would have to be "reloaded" or replaced. However, I guess the card could be wired directly to the portion of the brain that deals with smell. Wow, that would be scary. However, I would not worry since it would probably require Direct X version 123b or something Allan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
przy Posted May 4, 2000 Share Posted May 4, 2000 I think we are going a little too far when we try to get realistic smells coming from a computer. Some things are best left to the imagination. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Germanboy Posted May 5, 2000 Share Posted May 5, 2000 <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by przy: I think we are going a little too far when we try to get realistic smells coming from a computer. Some things are best left to the imagination. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Dead cows, grenadiers etc. that lay unburied in no-mans-land for four weeks during a wet Normandy summer? Call me queasy, I think I can do without it. IIRC one of the recurring comments made by veterans in the Normandy campaign was the stench. Now if that managed to get past their own stench, after not washing a lot and fighting a long time, it must have been bad... ------------------ Andreas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Artmann Posted May 5, 2000 Share Posted May 5, 2000 Ok, if in the future the smelling card is reaching the market, I suggest to sell every simulation with a gaz mask, and they will be a very hard lobbying against the WWI simulation. ARn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dar Posted May 5, 2000 Share Posted May 5, 2000 The "virtual smell" hardware is a long way off, though, from what I've read. There is an <a href = "http://www.cnn.com/2000/TECH/computing/05/03/israel.intersniff.ap/index.html">article</a> on CNN that describes what some Israelis have done. However, it sounds like all they've done so far is come up with a way to digitize scents. Recreating them for end users doesn't seem viable anytime soon. Anyone read <u>Gates of Fire</u> by Steven Pressfield? It's a novel about the Spartans fighting the battle of Thermopylae. There are plenty of passages in there about the smells of guys soiling themselves in the middle of the close combat, and guys slipping in the blood, feces, and urine while scrambling over the dead and wounded. It was pretty nauseating to think about it. Still a great book, though! I think he has another book out now that I'm gonna have to read. Think it's about the Pelopennesian Wars this time. Dar Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sbg2112 Posted May 5, 2000 Share Posted May 5, 2000 For whatever it's worth, I mentioned this nearly two months ago but since it was in response to one of the trolls on this board, I won't quote myself. Back then, somebody had a clever response -- "I love the smell of napalm in the morning!" Anyway, check out www.digiscents.com. They have an SDK, but I don't know what the status of their hardware is.... For anyone too lazy to follow the link, here's the first paragraph from their site: <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR> DigiScents iSmell digital scent technology brings the sense of smell to your computer. With iSmell software and devices, you can enjoy more immersive interactive games, realistic movies, and atmospheric music. Send online greetings that smell like chocolate or roses. Enjoy your personal aromatherapy track while sitting at your computer. Smell groceries and cosmetics before purchasing online. Explore faraway worlds. Communicate and express yourself in ways you never thought possible. Just follow your nose!<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Anyway, that's all I know about it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Major Tom Posted May 5, 2000 Share Posted May 5, 2000 "I love the smell of napalm in the morning. You know what it smells of? It smells of victory!" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Username Posted May 5, 2000 Share Posted May 5, 2000 Elmer Fudd (Reading futuristic newspaper) "SMELLIVISION WEPLACES TELEVISION!!" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doug Beman Posted May 5, 2000 Share Posted May 5, 2000 Bing Cwosby's horse hasn't come in yet? Gwacious! DjB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Blacksilver Posted May 5, 2000 Share Posted May 5, 2000 <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Dar: There are plenty of passages in there about the smells of guys soiling themselves in the middle of the close combat, and guys slipping in the blood, feces, and urine while scrambling over the dead and wounded. It was pretty nauseating to think about it. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Dar -- Have you read Sledge's "With the Old Breed"? Amazing passage about the stench of death and fesces on Peleliu, where the coral was too hard to dig. Another one about sliding down a muddy slope on Okinawa, careening over rotting corpses tossed in an artillery salad, and coming up covered in maggots. I think I'll pass on the virtual stench. ------------------ Blacksilver <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>History is a vast early warning system. -Norman Cousins<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Big Time Software Posted May 5, 2000 Share Posted May 5, 2000 I saw something on this a while back (CNN I think). There is a big problem for gaming though (and use in general). And that is the length of time it takes this thing to get the smells OUT and up into your nostrals. Imagine something like Half Life... You are running through a boiler room, so the thing starts to crank out oil smells. But in about 2.3 seconds you have run through it and in a hallway. So it starts to make some other smell, but then you are up some stairs and outside in about 4 seconds, then duck back in when someone shoots you, run back down into the boiler room and so on... This is the practical problem. In real world spaces the smells are already there, waiting for you. When you move from one space to another you get hit with a wall of new smells, then when you leave it stays behind. Not so with a little machine in the same space scent after scent. It just isn't practical. Oh, and they laughed at the price too Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Username Posted May 5, 2000 Share Posted May 5, 2000 They need virtual stench headgear. It fits over your nostrils and realtimes the computer wiff into your booger vault. I like my computer experience to be limited to visual and auditory mostly. Maybe a vibrating humjob chair with force feedback. Lewis Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iggi Posted May 5, 2000 Share Posted May 5, 2000 The best virtual reality has to bypass your senses and go directly to your brain while blocking your senses. Something like the movie total recall. Fantasy or the future? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dar Posted May 5, 2000 Share Posted May 5, 2000 Blacksilver: Yeah, I have read <u>With the Old Breed</u>. Great book -- and brutal! Thanks for reminding me about that one. I'm gonna have to dig that one out again. Another great book (although not as visceral) that I've been meaning to read again is <u>Enemy at the Gates</u>, which covers the Stalingrad campaign. I remember reading recently about a movie of the same name in production right now -- I hope it's covering the same topic? Dar Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Blacksilver Posted May 5, 2000 Share Posted May 5, 2000 Yeah, Enemy is great. The movie is shooting in Germany now; it focuses on the love story between the two Russian snipers, and the (perhaps apocryphal) sniper duel that William Craig discusses in the book. Other details were discussed in a recent thread. Actually, I just recently saw the German movie Stalingrad after reading about it on this forum. It's pretty good, though mostly a pastiche of the more brutal scenes from Enemy at the Gates and Theodore Plevier's novel Stalingrad. I would have liked to see more of the back-and-forth along the Volga and Mamaev Hill. ------------------ Blacksilver <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>History is a vast early warning system. -Norman Cousins<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woody Posted May 5, 2000 Share Posted May 5, 2000 Scent digitizers are for real. They can't produce scent, they just sense it. I saw a demonstration where wine experts were pitted against the machine. The machine was able to identify all the wines it "smelled". The experts did not fair as well. Of course the machine must first be "trained". Applications include food factory monitors looking for bad stuff etc. or for quality assurance. Generating smells though? Not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Username Posted May 5, 2000 Share Posted May 5, 2000 I see a great idea for a product. In bar's restrooms have a HALotosis computer breath analyzer. It could be put up next to the condom machine. Drunks who want to know how much their rot-gut alkybreath stinks can put in a quarter and blow into a tube. Maybe tell them their blood alchohol content too. Then they can go up to a girl and ask her to drive him home. Sometimes I amaze myself. Lewis Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
von shrad Posted May 6, 2000 Share Posted May 6, 2000 It all sounds nice. Just think. 'Debbie Does Dallas' in smellovision. Now thats a disturbing thought. PS..Enemy at the gates: best damn book!!! im not crazy about a love story though. I wish they would make war movies WAR movies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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