Smell-O-Vision

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Looking for new ways to appeal to audiences after the popularization of television, Smell-O-Vision attempted to introduce a third sense into the film viewing process by piping scents related to the on-screen images into the movie theater through small vents in the back of each theater seat. The novelty did not catch on and due to various complications brought on by the endeavor, only one film, The Scent of Mystery, was ever released with the technology.


Technology

There were a few small attempts to involve the sense of smell in the film-going experience throughout the early days of cinema, but Smell-O-Vision attempted to technologize the idea in a way that had never been done before. The process involved adding a high frequency sound into the soundtrack that would direct the Smell-O-Vision machine to release one of the scents stored on a rotating rack.

Unlike other attempts to add smell to visual entertainment, Smell-O-Vision required converting the entire theater to suit the technology as wires need to be installed throughout the entire theater. This results in an increase in costs, as well as, potentially, more opportunity for problems if the wires were to break or become disconnected. To release the scent, the machine would send a small bit of the scent with a high amount of pressure into a small set of tubes that wrapped around each row in the theater. At each seat there was a small perforation in the tube, allowing a the scent to release for the intended enjoyment of the audience member. The scents themselves were chemically manufactured.

Analysis

Continued Attempts