Smell-O-Vision: Gimmick that won't die

The latest incarnation of the Smell-O-Vision. It's not for sale, thankfully. Source: Supplied

Smell-O-vision. It's the technology that refuses to die.

TV manufacturers and cinemas have been trying to integrate scent-based entertainment since the mid '60s and it is yet to find a keen customer base.

Despite this, one Japanese university is giving Smell-O-Vision a big whiff.

Researchers from the Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology have developed a smelling screen which allows users to detect certain smells on specific parts of the screen.

For example, if for some reason people were watching a video of a dog doing twosies, that sickly smell would emanate from the part of the screen the turd was located in.

"The smelling screen is a new olfactory display that can generate a localized odor distribution on a two-dimensional display screen," the researchers wrote in a note accompanying a demonstration at the IEEE Virtual Reality Conference.

"The generated odor distribution is as if an odor source had been placed on the screen, and leads the user to perceive the odor as emanating from a specific region of the screen."

The screen contains four strategically placed fans which control the direction which the odour vapour wafts.

Thankfully the fans can be set to low or high, depending on the strength of your nose.

At this point the smelling screen is just for science, and is still in experimental phase. The university says it does not yet have plans to make the technology available.

So what would our top TV shows smell of?

We've put together a short list:

The scent your shows would smell like:

- Breaking Bad: Meth, sweat and pancakes.
- Mad Men: Whiskey, cologne, perfume and cigarettes
- Game of Thrones: Mud, body odour, poo, urine, blood, fire.
- Girls: Teen spirit.
- My Kitchen Rules: Butter, five-star cooking and desperation.
- Suits: Cologne, pot and printer toner
- Boardwalk Empire: alcohol and sea salt

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