The idea of incorporating scent into entertainment isn't new, but it remains one of technology’s strangest endeavors. For creators and enthusiasts alike, adding smell to media has long been seen as a compelling, if peculiar, ambition.
Coming to you from Nostalgia Nerd, this fun and insightful video takes a detailed look at the fascinating and turbulent history of Smell-O-Vision, a technology aimed at adding scents to movies, TV shows, and even video games. The journey began in earnest during the mid-20th century, with early experiments like "Scentovision" and "Smell-O-Rama"—systems designed to enhance cinema experiences through carefully timed fragrance releases. Despite intriguing initial trials, these systems often faltered due to technical issues and practical limitations. Audiences sometimes found the scents overpowering, distracting, or unevenly distributed, making the idea difficult to embrace on a large scale. Nonetheless, this didn’t stop later innovators from revisiting and refining the concept repeatedly.
The video also highlights the compelling story of DigiScents, a company formed at the turn of the millennium by entrepreneurs Joel Bellenson and Dexster Smith. DigiScents ambitiously aimed to digitize scents, allowing users to experience smells through their personal computers and gaming systems. Using specialized hardware, scents were released from cartridges filled with fragrance components, each activated digitally. Despite securing high-profile partnerships with companies like Sony, Microsoft, Procter & Gamble, and Unilever, DigiScents struggled with market skepticism, funding challenges, and the daunting complexity of accurately simulating realistic aromas. The practical challenges of scent delivery—ranging from the longevity of cartridges to the accurate blending of fragrances—proved formidable.
Interestingly, the video explores how DigiScents and its competitors were caught up in the frenzy of the dot-com boom. Their ambitions were broad, imagining everything from immersive gaming experiences to fully scented e-commerce sites. It candidly reflects on the lessons learned, acknowledging that aiming too high, too quickly, might have undermined their chances of success. Still, despite its collapse amid financial hurdles and the wider tech downturn in the early 2000s, the technology’s underlying concepts remain intriguing and influential in current explorations of sensory-enhanced virtual experiences.
The video provides an intriguing twist involving unexpected events, like the profound impact 9/11 had on DigiScents’ final push for funding, highlighting the unpredictable nature of tech startups. It underscores the thin line between visionary innovation and practicality. Check out the video above for the full rundown.
My Father spoke of going to a Smell-o-Vision theater productions a couple of times in his younger days, were talking back in the late 60s. He didn't speak of it very fondly. I can't say the idea sounds very intriguing... and thinking about it in modern terms, the products used would undoubtedly be full of artificial-chemicals, that I wouldn't want to imagine breathing in.
In a related concept: You can go to places like Galveston, TX at the Moody Gardens: There are theaters that are called 4D... where they have 'Special Effects' the seat will literally hit you, and spray will come out of the ceiling and crazy stuff happens. It's mostly for the kids. When something happens on the screen that is a little warm, you feel it. That was fun, even for the adults. But I'll pass on smelling gross stuff from my phone or from my TV. My Father spoke of smelling gross stuff in the theater, and he meant from the 'smell-o-vision'... yeah I don't need to pay to be grossed out.
I can't quite imagine digital delivery of smell... that sounds disgusting. But I remember back in my early graphic design days, probably the 1980s, when commercial printers were developing scented inks for brochures, packaging and labels. Most likely another idea that never lived up to the hype, even though a quick Google search indicates several printers with that capacity. I can't ever remember getting a brochure in the mail that smelled like the product being offered. I'm sure a direct mail piece with that "new car" smell would be just the thing to get me to drop $50k on a new vehicle.