Latest May 2007

The latest version of the Plymouth map is now ready for download.
It features location which will take you to all parts of Plymouth from the city center and union street to the historic harbor and beautiful Plymouth sound. As you enter each location take some time to stand still and smell your surroundings, you might just be standing in the presence of an angel.


May 9th 2007

I have just had my final talk with Mike and showed him the new system he really seemed to like it and he is looking forward to the site presentation next Tuesday. I have spent the rest of the day testing it all in the pouring rain. I hope the rain stops for my presentation next week as it will damped the scents a bit... we'll just have to see

May 1st 2007

The sounds have now been engineered and sound great I think I have managed to manipulate the sound in such a way that it will enhance the user experience of the map.

April 2007

April 27th 2007

I have collected all the sound samples and images for the final soundscape and now I just have to add them into the map I have created.

April 25th 2007

I have used the easter break to workout how I will treat the audio and the locations around Plymouth I want to map. I now just have to go and collect the sounds.

March 2007

March 30th 2007

I have just shown Mike the experiment that I had done and he really seemed to like it. We discussed how I could engineer the audio to enhance the user experience. I am really excited at how this project has progressed I can't believe how far it has evolved from the early stages. I am so glad that this project has given me a new appriciation for the rich olfactory environment around me. That is one of the main reason I have steered clear of artificial scents, nothing will ever compensate for the real thing.

March 21st 2007

I have just taken a diverse group of friends on a short trial tour of three locations to gague and recored their reactions. I am very lucky that all my friends have different areas of study which was reflected in the way they spoke about the scents which was very interesting. (Accountant, Architect, Historian, Psycologist and Scientist) I am in the process of editing the sound and adding it to the scape so I can show Mike.

March 12th 2007

I have spent the day aligning my map image (google earth) with the software. I have chosen to use a google earth image as it makes it far easier to tell your exact location than with an OS map, therefore the alignment and final map are far more accurate. As the user will not see the map I am not too concerned about what it looks like. (The user will have a black screen until they are in the precense of an angel, then the audio will fade in and the picture will be displayed. When the user exits an area the sound will fade away)

March 5th 2007

I had an idea of utalising the visual part of the create-a-scape software to encorpourate a story which would then be enhanced by the natural smell along the route. However after talking to Mike about it we decided again I was becoming to literal and that it would be detrimental to the delicate subject matter of scent. My idea had to be etherial like the nature of scent itsef. So I have decided to take a group of people out on the tour of these locations and discuss with them what they can smell and the memories and emotions it evokes. I will then use this audio for the sound element of the map.

I have been looking back at some of the angel articles and images that Martha showed me and I remembered some light pictures of angels she had shown me. I didn't want my angels to look like traditional angels as that would trivialise the whole project so I am going to survey my locations to find stains where I think the angel could have appeared.

February 2007

February 26th 2007

I definately think create-a-scape is the way to go with this project I now need to plan the area I want to map and how I am going to utalise this software to work with my angels round Plymouth idea.

February 15th 2007

A friend has just told me about some software called Create-a-scape by HP which allows you to map an area and add sounds and pictures so I am going to start experimenting with it.

February 3rd 2007

I am currently going through loads of GPS mapping programs on the internet to find the one that will best suit my project. I have been looking at GPS 2 GE which works with Google Earth which was very successful, but I still want to experiment further with create a scape and other software that allows me to create the map myself.

February 1st 2007

I was looking back at some of my initial research and it lead me to some interesting articles documenting the following projects

Sentient beings - Jenny Tillotson
Clothing which emits scent according to the persons mood.
Scentimantal Space utalised her emotional clothing, the user would wear an item from her collection which reacts with wellpaper in the surrounding space producing sounds, aromas, colour and touch.

Aroma Jets - Pinoke
A device worn by gamers to enhance their game playing experiences by emitting smells that correspond with the action.

K Opti Produced Koari a system that allows users to smell products on the internet, Telewest have also been working on a scent dome technology allowing users to smell their emails.

Scents Of Space - Usman Haque
3D placement of smell to create scent collages using fans and diffusion screens

AIR - Hilda Kozari
This installation consists of 3 bubbles each containing a perfume which was specially created by a perfumer to represent her olfactory experience of three cities (Paris, Helsinki & Budapest.)

The university of Southern California have developed a system for the army where smells can be used to give commands and increase stealth.

I have also just spent a fortune on an iPAQ (PDA) and a GPS unit to go with it, but it will be so worth while to realise this project.

January 2007

Mid Module "Assessement"

I think my idea went down wel with everyone Chris Speed seem to think it was a very unique concept and seemed really interested in it which was good. I got a slight attack of nerves for some reason and slightly messed up my presentation and didn't mention everything I wanted to, and rightly I got marks deducted to teach me a valuable lesson. For the proper presentation I am going to spend time rehersing exactly what i am going to say and planning it very carefully as I only have one shot at this!

January 23rd 2007

Japan gets way more than its fair share or weird gadgets and gizmos and if they aren't designed to keep your warm the seem to be centered on smell. Sony Ericsson is introducing a new phone in Japan only called the S0703i that has a scent slot. The phone will have 11 available scents though they haven't said what they will be yet.

January 16th 2007

Posted by bunnymedia in Dissertation & Project. add a comment
I had the most amazing day of meetings today, a lot of really strange things happen that were just to random to be coincidence.
1st I had my usual 10 with Mike and we discussed my projects and what I needed to do to get to the next stage before our next meeting. However there was still this very mechanical literal sense to the project that just didn't feel right. Mike then introduced me to Michael Punt who has studied angels along with Martha my dissertation tutor from the 1st term. I arranged a meeting with them for later that day to discuss my idea further. I then thought back to an article that had sparked my initial interest in the field of scent, the odour of sanctity which I read when I began my dissertation.
During my meeting with Martha and Michael Punt we were discussing some amazing ideas and developments for my project.
The most important thing for this project to work with the subtly I require is to hide the technology involved.

1) The angels only appear when you call on them, so some people believe. Therefore I could hide the technology and have the people text the angel and have the prayers displayed on a screen. When the text is received by the hidden phone then the scent emitter would trigger.

2)Have an abstract painting of an angel like the ones martha showed me which display lights and auras which are angels captured on film rather than the traditional angel with wings. There could be a pressure plate on the floor so as people stand in the presence of this image the scent is released.

3)This was an amazing idea involving GPS & natural scent, I would go round the city tracking the angels of Plymouth and recording the co-ordinates, times and weather they appeared in and map it on a 3D map of Plymouth. I could even produce an audio or visual representation that people could use to go to these places themselves.

4)The final idea is another way of visualising my idea. People have claimed to be able to smell the Aurora Borealis (Northern lights) and it is another natural phenomenon involving unseen source so it could be a good representation of my angel.

I talked to Patricia from the perfumery course but unfortunately it only runs as a distance learning thing but she did email me a lot of information and has invited me to a workshop masterclass on the 19th March which would be amazing to go to and help to add another level to my understanding of scent.

I am picking up more material from Martha tomorrow so I can develop my ideas further.

January 14th 2007

After talking to Mike I am a bit uncertain about my project I think it is becoming to literal and therefore undermine what I am trying to achieve. I have been looking at text and doing word replacement to help with broadening my project. I have also gathered my resources together to allow me to produce the mobile phone scent experiment which will be the starting block of my project. I hope to go to the electronics lab this tuesday and talk it through with the guys up there.


December 2006

I had a sudden burst of inspiration when my mum showed me a novelty reindeer hat for her phone that someone at work gave her. It is triggered by sending or receiving a mobile signal therefore technically I should be able to utalise this circuit board and some how fuse it with the electronics from a trigger airfreshner.. “technically!” lol
I don't know what the practicalities are yet so I'm going to show Mike my Project Tutor my ideas this week and see what he thinks.

November 2006

November 17th 2006

I can’t believe what I found when browsing the net, there soon will be a device available for £250 that will allow you to add scents to your emails.

E-mail tries out a sense of smell

You could soon be able to spice up your e-mails with your favourite perfume. UK net provider Telewest Broadband is testing a system to let people to send aromatic e-mails over the internet. It has developed a kind of hi-tech air freshener that plugs into a PC and sprays a smell linked to the message. Telewest say it could be used by supermarkets to tempt people with the smell of fresh bread or by holiday companies seeking to stir up images of sun-kissed beaches. “This could bring an extra whiff of realism to the internet,” said Chad Raube, director of internet services at Telewest Broadband. “We are always looking at ways to enhance the broadband internet experience of the future and this time we are sure consumers will come up smelling of roses.” Emotional response The technology behind the idea was originally developed by US company Trisenx. Scientists at Telewest’s labs in
Woking,
Surrey, have built on that research to come up with the idea of a “scent dome”.

The dome comes with a cartridge containing 20 basic aromas, which can be combined to produce up to 60 different smells. A “scented e-mail” would contain electronic signals that would tell the dome to release the smell of flowers, perfume or coffee. “Our sense of smell is directly connected to our emotions,” said anthropologist Kate Fox, director of the Social Issues Research Centre in
Oxford. “Smells trigger very powerful and deep-seated emotional responses, and this additional element to the internet will enhance users’ online experience by adding that crucial third dimension.” But the chance to sniff your e-mails not may come cheap. Telewest says its “scent dome” could cost around £250 and would only work with a high-speed, broadband connection.

 

November 17th 2006

Area of Interest:
The evolution of my idea has led me to investigate ways in which we can experience emotional iteration through technology via tactile devices.

There are several ways to produce tactile interaction the three easiest of these interations are touch, sound and vision. You might wonder how vision is a tactile interaction?! As light touches your eyes it is processed by the cells in your eyes sending messages via your optic nerves to your brain where the signal turns into imagery. The same is true for the ears, sound waves move the bones in your ears allowing you to hear sounds. But a sense that is very much neglected by technology is smell. Traditionally technology is with out scent.
I think this quote from Buffy the Vampire Slayer sums up my project idea quite well. (I had totally forgotten about it until I was thinking about sense and technologies)

Giles: Smell is the most powerful trigger to the memory there is. A certain flower or a whiff of smoke can bring up experiences long forgotten. Books smell musty and rich. The knowledge gained from a computer is…it has no texture, no context. It’s there and then it’s gone. If it’s to last, then the getting of knowledge should be tangible. It should be, um, smelly.
I, Robot - You, Jane

Project Aim:

At this evolutionary stage of my project I see it as a device used along side visual or aural communication.
The easiest way of describing this is with an example:
Guy x & Girl Y are married but Guy X travels alot on business so they communicate through emails/texts/phone. When GuyX calls/texts Girl Y there is a dispenser attached to the communication device which will release Guy X's scent (aftershave) and vice versa when she calls him her perfume will be released by the dispenser at his end.

Ideas of how I might achieve this:

Hacking time dispense air fresheners and extracting the trigger mechanism then filling and combining it with a bluetooth arduino board. Though I am not totally sure the best thing to do yet, I am having electronic lesson for my sound module so i hope through that it will help me to realise the technology I will use.

Nov 12th 2006

I had my first project meeting on Thursday, Mike liked my idea which was great. He advised me that I can achieve what I want without the use of complex robotics which is a relief he suggested i take a more subtle approach. This combined with what Martha said that all our senses can be considered tactile i think this extension of my idea will fulfil and achieve what I want to achieve.

The idea: Smell is a powerful stimulus to the human brain can trigger all kinds of emotions. My project is a device which might be activated via mobile technology (I am not totally sure yet) which dispense the fragrance that the person’s partner usually wears when it receives a message. I was thinking it could occur when the partner texts the other one but before deciding all the technical stuff and fencing myself in I want to discuss it with Mike during our meeting this Thursday.

October 2006

I have a very wide group of friends and family spread all round the world and although with the advancements in technologies it is easy to keep in touch with them, you can not truly express what you feel through email or an instant message. This is my inspiration behind my project, I want to produce communication technology which is capable helping the user express emotion to the receiver. At the moment I envision this taking the form of two robotic hands which you can hold and squeeze and the person at the receiving end will be able to feel the pressure exerted by the user. Thus allowing for a more intimate interpretation of emotion by the people involved.