Sound and Scent
May 2, 2013, Neuro-Gaming Conference,San Francisco—It is now possible to control sounds with the brain and personal scent delivery devices are around the corner. A panel moderated by Richard Warp from LeapFrog evaluated the potential for these additional sensory experiences for games. The panel members were Steve Horowitz from The Code International, Jim Hedges from Zynga, Charlene Coleman from Sensory Acumen, Bill Wiles from Scent Sciences, and Heather Kelly from Perfect Plum.
How to fit hardware, technology, and content into neuro games?
Kelly noted that interactive smell and haptics, etc. are currently at the gimmick stage. They need more refinement and the ability to be location based. The extra sensory inputs are not good or bad, but memory associative, and raise the possibility for interactive use in a game.
Hedges offered audio is a part of game design. There is growing interest in adaptive audio with branching, layering, etc. to make the game more immersive. Just like scent, audio is nostalgic and different from visual in increasing immersion.
Wiles stated that the technologies have been evolving for years. Scent is one of the last pieces to become a part of the gamification of life. Expect apps in automotive, senior care, etc. and the technologies will create new markets.
Coleman works with researchers in developing fragrances.
Horowitz noted that sound for games, TV, and film is moving to 3-D, which changes the interfaces. The sound is a natural link between technology and the mind.
Technology is moving to mobile, and game centers in the home, possibilities?
Coleman observed that 3-D audio is awesome, and adding scent will bring the holodeck even closer. Mobile technology can increase integration to enable smaller footprints.
Horowitz stated that biofeedback is powerful, and is now used in immersive game simulations. When you read emotions and change the sound and music with the experience. The sounds and score have to adapt.
Hedges commented that the potential for surround sound is in the mix and the audio focus is a film mix. This mix is not to simulate reality , but to enhance the whole experience. The challenge is that game play is non-linear, and changes the game play and the audio. They remix on the fly with inputs from biofeedback.
Surround sound leads to the same for scent?
Hedges would focus on one scent
Wiles offered that in a home entertainment system, scent needs to be built in. One issue is how to clear scents, another is how much scent to present. You need a way to flush the atmosphere. 5-7 scents will overload the nose, so the environment as a physical medium is important. There will not be scent in theaters because there is no flush mechanism.
Kelly added that the spatial issues like room size will lead to personal devices. One issue discovered in the Space Station is that constant exposure to smells causes one to lose the sense of smell. A personal smell device will probably come out of NASA first.
Coleman commented that flushing with air over the substrate causes the scent to dissipate quickly.
Smell and sound, moods and palette?
Coleman responded that there are no names for most scents, but the scents are experienced based. Some scents and their properties are known, but most scent responses are subjective.
Kelly postulated that scent information is conditional and cultural, so no vocabulary or taxonomy is realistic for games.
Wiles noted that scent creators have no fixed palette, but use a range of variants, and create by tweaking smells.
Music creates an emotional user experience?
Hedges declared that there is s difference between music and sound. There is no natural set with existing vocabularies and conventions. The parallel between sound and smell is that some are pure and natural. Sounds are universal and real sounds can be created and sophisticated.
Wiles suggested that you could combine both smell or sound. In a predictive game, the AI could adjust either or both
Most opportunity to adopt?
Wiles responded kid and educational games get up to 4 times better responses with smell and sound. With VR, it would be total immersion. The best way is to marry all the pieces. Also, the combinations could be used to manage emotions in a car.
Coleman stated that one could use smell for anything, gamification and training.
Horowitz noted that game play is getting to be standard to include sound and other enhancements to the video. Gamification is moving into health care, etc. to increase involvement.
Future music and game fantasy scents?
Coleman has created a zombie smell.
Wiles explained that a superhero smell could be integrated into the game and get more effect. Adding smell would crate a new environment with new smells.
Hedges commented that smell is similar to sound in terms of real and fantasy. We use Foley for realistic sounds and make up sounds for spells.
Horowitz offered that the point depends upon the game and action, how realistic or abstract is the action. You could make up loser and winner smells.
Kelly suggested abstract games could use synthesized smells as tracking and navigation aids.
A medical issue. Could you stimulate smells in the brain? A prosthetic like a hearing aid for smell?
Wiles declared that one could retrain the brain. There have been some general experiments.
Coleman said that it is possible to bypass brain paths but needs more research. Google Glass uses bone conduction for sound, so other paths work.
Scent hardware can extract from people and pheromones?
Coleman noted that this is a bidirectional process and in research.
Wiles mentioned that a baby can recognize mom’s smell. This is very difficult because the identification of the scent needs different hardware. Smell has lots of shades that are hard to match.
Taste?
Wiles questioned that it is possible, but why? The food companies are interested.
Kelly agreed but that there are ethical issues involved. Integrating taste into a game can be done, but identifying specifics is hard. For example allergies, health issues, etc.
