2011 Volume 80 Issue 3 Pages 231-234
An olfactory display is a device that gives an olfactory stimulus to a user. We fabricated an olfactory display to blend multiple odor components at any composition in real time using solenoid valves with high speed switching. Then, we developed several applications with scents using the developed olfactory display. Several trials reveal that the accent in the odor presentation is very important to convey the application developer’s aim to users. When we made a movie with scents, it was found that we could control the impression of the scene to some extent by adding the appropriate scents to appropriate scenes. Moreover, we made a cooking game with scents, which everybody can enjoy, by introducing the interactive behavior into the system. Many people felt hungry after they experienced the cooking game with scents. Since we demonstrated this game with scents many times at domestic conferences and overseas, people become slowly familiar with an olfactory display. The interdisciplinary collaboration among engineers, chemists and artists is expected to expand the application area of an olfactory display.
