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inside reading 4, 5- virtual odors?

5- virtual odors?

Movies have successfully captured sights and sounds on film since the 1920s. And today we can enjoy realistic and imaginary multimedia delights even on hand-held devices. But if such treats for the eye and ear are now commonplace, why is there no machine that can readily incorporate our sense of smell into the experience of a movie or a video game?

Actually, movie makers have tried to add this missing dimension. In 1959, a film called Behind the Great Wall piped odors through the air-conditioning system of a theater. The I960 film Scent of a Mystery, featuring Smell-0-Vision, opened in a theater equipped to release smells in synch with the movie. Director John Waters gave "scratch-and-sniff cards out to accompany his "Odorama" movie Polyester (1982). And Wait Disney World's Epcot theme park near Orlando, Florida uses odors to enhance its Journey into the Imagination attraction. So far, though, Smell-0-Vision-type devices are no more than gimmicks of only marginal interest. Why? No affordable machine can store enough odors to simulate more than a small fraction of what humans can smell.

Sound and color simulation do not face such limitations. Computer monitors, for example, can recreate millions of colors because it really only takes three colors to do so. A screen that can display tiny red, green, and blue pixels can combine these colors to reproduce most colors that a human eye can see. Sound waves, though quite complex, can be defined mathematically, reproduced by a synthesizer, and amplified electronically.

Odors are different. They cannot be manipulated or defined mathematically. As Jaron Lanier explains in an article in New Scientist. odors "are not patterns of energy, like images or sounds. To smell an apple, you breathe hundreds or thousands of apple molecules into your nose." There is no way to amplify them other than adding more odor molecules. Plus, each molecule that triggers smell is unique. This means a machine cannot produce all possible odors by simply mixing three odors. It is true that odor-causing chemicals can be combined to produce millions of scents, but the minimum number of basic odors required would be in the many hundreds, perhaps thousands, to simulate all the scents that humans can sense.

Several odor parameters can be identified that might be useful. We can talk about the intensity of an odor or the persistence of an odor. We can label it as pleasant or unpleasant. Non-offensive odors can be grouped into seven general categories: medicinal, floral, chemical, fruity, vegetable, fishy, and earthy. They can also be categorized by how they feel in our nose: tingly, burning, warm, metallic, pungent, itching, sharp, and cool. But there are simply too many odors in each category to design a practical device that could reference and recreate all the scents we can smell. Jaron Lanier says, "Colors and sounds can be measured with rulers, but odors must be looked up in a dictionary."

That dictionary is in the brain. Odors are detected deep in the nasal passage when molecules come into contact with the olfactory epithelium—a patch of tissue covered with neurons. These neurons have receptors3 that can detect a particular molecule. If a molecule fits into a matching receptor, the brain gets a signal. Apparently, the human nose has about one thousand different types of olfactory neurons.

The brain's "smell dictionary" categorizes odors, but not in a way that a chemistry book would. Instead the brain groups smells according to what they mean in the real world. Things that emit a rotting smell, for example, get very special handling. Interpreting smell also requires help from the other senses, and its meaning may derive from the context. Whether a smell is good or bad may depend on where you smell it and what you think is causing it. If a bowl of ice cream smells like hard-boiled eggs, you probably won't eat it even if you like hard-boiled eggs. In other words, smells function a bit like words do. We know thousands of different words, and the meaning of a word depends on the context in which it occurs. We define a word by pointing to the entity it refers to or by comparing its meaning to other words. With scents, we may say "it smells like a cucumber" or "it has a soapy smell."

If millions of visible colors can be produced from just three primary colors, is there any hope of finding smell "pixels" that will trigger the perception of smell in our brains? We, of course, see images on computer screens that look real to us even though the objects are not really there. They are optical illusions. Likewise, sound recordings and even your cell phone create an auditory illusion—the source of the original sound only seems to be present. Is it possible to design a mechanism that could somehow manipulate our brain to create the illusion of smell when no odor molecules are present— virtual odors?

In the near future, this achievement seems remote, but some progress is being made in research on machines that can mimic the sense of smell. These "electric noses" are equipped with olfactory sensors that detect specific odors. In order to design such a machine, scientists and engineers must be able to classify and identify an odor's distinctive "fingerprint" and design a mechanism that can electronically detect that fingerprint. The possible value of such a machine in food inspection, medicine, and law enforcement has prompted several dozen companies to develop and sell electronic nose units.

If a machine can digitally detect odors, perhaps the reverse is possible. The Tokyo Institute of Technology is reported to be working on an odor recorder and generator. The plan is to design a gadget that can be pointed at an object, record its odor through 15 electronic noses, and recreate the odor by mixing together and vaporizing odors from a set of 96 nontoxic chemicals. If this device succeeds, it will move well beyond current odor generators. These emit only a small number of odors and have failed commercially.

If odor recorders and generators prove to be feasible and affordable, Smell-O-Vision may be primed for a comeback, adding a new dimension to the moviegoing experience. It may even require a new film rating system: "Warning: This movie is rated R for Rotten. Contains odors (hat some may find offensive."

5- virtual odors? 5- virtual odors? 5- ¿Olores virtuales? 5-バーチャルなにおい？ 5 - виртуальные запахи?

Movies have successfully captured sights and sounds on film since the 1920s. El cine lleva capturando imágenes y sonidos desde los años veinte. And today we can enjoy realistic and imaginary multimedia delights even on hand-held devices. Y hoy podemos disfrutar de delicias multimedia realistas e imaginarias incluso en dispositivos portátiles. But if such treats for the eye and ear are now commonplace, why is there no machine that can readily incorporate our sense of smell into the experience of a movie or a video game? Pero si estas delicias para la vista y el oído son ya habituales, ¿por qué no hay ninguna máquina capaz de incorporar fácilmente nuestro sentido del olfato a la experiencia de una película o un videojuego?

Actually, movie makers have tried to add this missing dimension. En realidad, los cineastas han intentado añadir esta dimensión que faltaba. In 1959, a film called Behind the Great Wall piped odors through the air-conditioning system of a theater. En 1959, una película titulada Detrás de la Gran Muralla emitía olores a través del sistema de aire acondicionado de un cine. The I960 film Scent of a Mystery, featuring Smell-0-Vision, opened in a theater equipped to release smells in synch with the movie. La película Scent of a Mystery (Aroma de misterio) de 1960, con Smell-0-Vision, se estrenó en un cine equipado para liberar olores en sincronía con la película. Director John Waters gave "scratch-and-sniff cards out to accompany his "Odorama" movie Polyester (1982). El director John Waters repartió "tarjetas de rascar y oler" para acompañar su película "Odorama" Polyester (1982). And Wait Disney World's Epcot theme park near Orlando, Florida uses odors to enhance its Journey into the Imagination attraction. Y el parque temático Epcot de Wait Disney World, cerca de Orlando (Florida), utiliza olores para realzar su atracción Journey into the Imagination. So far, though, Smell-0-Vision-type devices are no more than gimmicks of only marginal interest. Hasta ahora, sin embargo, los dispositivos del tipo Smell-0-Vision no son más que artilugios de interés marginal. Why? ¿Por qué? No affordable machine can store enough odors to simulate more than a small fraction of what humans can smell. Ninguna máquina asequible puede almacenar suficientes olores para simular más que una pequeña fracción de lo que el ser humano puede oler.

Sound and color simulation do not face such limitations. La simulación de sonido y color no se enfrenta a estas limitaciones. Computer monitors, for example, can recreate millions of colors because it really only takes three colors to do so. Los monitores de ordenador, por ejemplo, pueden recrear millones de colores porque en realidad sólo hacen falta tres. A screen that can display tiny red, green, and blue pixels can combine these colors to reproduce most colors that a human eye can see. Una pantalla que puede mostrar diminutos píxeles rojos, verdes y azules puede combinar estos colores para reproducir la mayoría de los colores que puede ver el ojo humano. Sound waves, though quite complex, can be defined mathematically, reproduced by a synthesizer, and amplified electronically. Las ondas sonoras, aunque bastante complejas, pueden definirse matemáticamente, reproducirse con un sintetizador y amplificarse electrónicamente.

Odors are different. Los olores son diferentes. They cannot be manipulated or defined mathematically. No pueden manipularse ni definirse matemáticamente. As Jaron Lanier explains in an article in New Scientist. Como explica Jaron Lanier en un artículo en New Scientist. odors "are not patterns of energy, like images or sounds. To smell an apple, you breathe hundreds or thousands of apple molecules into your nose." Para oler una manzana, se respiran cientos o miles de moléculas de manzana en la nariz". There is no way to amplify them other than adding more odor molecules. No hay forma de amplificarlos, salvo añadiendo más moléculas de olor. Plus, each molecule that triggers smell is unique. Además, cada molécula que desencadena el olfato es única. This means a machine cannot produce all possible odors by simply mixing three odors. Esto significa que una máquina no puede producir todos los olores posibles simplemente mezclando tres olores. It is true that odor-causing chemicals can be combined to produce millions of scents, but the minimum number of basic odors required would be in the many hundreds, perhaps thousands, to simulate all the scents that humans can sense. Es cierto que las sustancias químicas que provocan olores pueden combinarse para producir millones de olores, pero el número mínimo de olores básicos necesarios sería de varios cientos, quizá miles, para simular todos los olores que puede percibir el ser humano.

Several odor parameters can be identified that might be useful. Se pueden identificar varios parámetros de olor que podrían ser útiles. We can talk about the intensity of an odor or the persistence of an odor. Podemos hablar de la intensidad de un olor o de la persistencia de un olor. We can label it as pleasant or unpleasant. Podemos calificarlo de agradable o desagradable. Non-offensive odors can be grouped into seven general categories: medicinal, floral, chemical, fruity, vegetable, fishy, and earthy. Los olores no ofensivos pueden agruparse en siete categorías generales: medicinales, florales, químicos, afrutados, vegetales, a pescado y a tierra. They can also be categorized by how they feel in our nose: tingly, burning, warm, metallic, pungent, itching, sharp, and cool. También se pueden clasificar en función de la sensación que producen en la nariz: hormigueo, ardor, calor, metal, picor, picor agudo y frío. But there are simply too many odors in each category to design a practical device that could reference and recreate all the scents we can smell. Pero simplemente hay demasiados olores en cada categoría como para diseñar un dispositivo práctico que pueda referenciar y recrear todos los aromas que podemos oler. Jaron Lanier says, "Colors and sounds can be measured with rulers, but odors must be looked up in a dictionary." Jaron Lanier dice: "Los colores y los sonidos se pueden medir con reglas, pero los olores hay que buscarlos en un diccionario".

That dictionary is in the brain. Ese diccionario está en el cerebro. Odors are detected deep in the nasal passage when molecules come into contact with the olfactory epithelium—a patch of tissue covered with neurons. Los olores se detectan en las profundidades del conducto nasal cuando las moléculas entran en contacto con el epitelio olfativo, una porción de tejido cubierta de neuronas. These neurons have receptors3 that can detect a particular molecule. Estas neuronas tienen receptores3 que pueden detectar una molécula determinada. If a molecule fits into a matching receptor, the brain gets a signal. Si una molécula encaja en un receptor correspondiente, el cerebro recibe una señal. Apparently, the human nose has about one thousand different types of olfactory neurons. Al parecer, la nariz humana tiene unos mil tipos diferentes de neuronas olfativas.

The brain's "smell dictionary" categorizes odors, but not in a way that a chemistry book would. El "diccionario olfativo" del cerebro clasifica los olores, pero no como lo haría un libro de química. Instead the brain groups smells according to what they mean in the real world. En cambio, el cerebro agrupa los olores en función de lo que significan en el mundo real. Things that emit a rotting smell, for example, get very special handling. Las cosas que desprenden olor a podrido, por ejemplo, reciben un tratamiento muy especial. Interpreting smell also requires help from the other senses, and its meaning may derive from the context. La interpretación del olfato también requiere la ayuda de los demás sentidos, y su significado puede derivarse del contexto. Whether a smell is good or bad may depend on where you smell it and what you think is causing it. Que un olor sea bueno o malo puede depender de dónde lo huelas y de lo que creas que lo causa. If a bowl of ice cream smells like hard-boiled eggs, you probably won't eat it even if you like hard-boiled eggs. Si un bol de helado huele a huevo duro, probablemente no te lo comerás aunque te gusten los huevos duros. In other words, smells function a bit like words do. En otras palabras, los olores funcionan un poco como las palabras. We know thousands of different words, and the meaning of a word depends on the context in which it occurs. Conocemos miles de palabras diferentes, y el significado de una palabra depende del contexto en el que aparece. We define a word by pointing to the entity it refers to or by comparing its meaning to other words. Definimos una palabra señalando la entidad a la que se refiere o comparando su significado con otras palabras. With scents, we may say "it smells like a cucumber" or "it has a soapy smell." Con los olores, podemos decir "huele a pepino" o "tiene olor a jabón".

If millions of visible colors can be produced from just three primary colors, is there any hope of finding smell "pixels" that will trigger the perception of smell in our brains? Si se pueden producir millones de colores visibles a partir de sólo tres colores primarios, ¿hay alguna esperanza de encontrar "píxeles" olfativos que activen la percepción del olor en nuestro cerebro? We, of course, see images on computer screens that look real to us even though the objects are not really there. Nosotros, por supuesto, vemos imágenes en pantallas de ordenador que nos parecen reales aunque los objetos no estén realmente ahí. They are optical illusions. Son ilusiones ópticas. Likewise, sound recordings and even your cell phone create an auditory illusion—the source of the original sound only seems to be present. Del mismo modo, las grabaciones de sonido e incluso el teléfono móvil crean una ilusión auditiva: la fuente del sonido original sólo parece estar presente. Is it possible to design a mechanism that could somehow manipulate our brain to create the illusion of smell when no odor molecules are present— virtual odors? ¿Es posible diseñar un mecanismo que pueda manipular de algún modo nuestro cerebro para crear la ilusión del olor cuando no hay moléculas olorosas presentes, es decir, olores virtuales?

In the near future, this achievement seems remote, but some progress is being made in research on machines that can mimic the sense of smell. En un futuro próximo, este logro parece remoto, pero se está avanzando en la investigación de máquinas que puedan imitar el sentido del olfato. These "electric noses" are equipped with olfactory sensors that detect specific odors. Estas "narices eléctricas" están equipadas con sensores olfativos que detectan olores específicos. In order to design such a machine, scientists and engineers must be able to classify and identify an odor's distinctive "fingerprint" and design a mechanism that can electronically detect that fingerprint. Para diseñar una máquina de este tipo, los científicos e ingenieros deben ser capaces de clasificar e identificar la "huella dactilar" distintiva de un olor y diseñar un mecanismo que pueda detectar electrónicamente esa huella. The possible value of such a machine in food inspection, medicine, and law enforcement has prompted several dozen companies to develop and sell electronic nose units. El posible valor de una máquina de este tipo en la inspección de alimentos, la medicina y la aplicación de la ley ha impulsado a varias docenas de empresas a desarrollar y vender unidades nasales electrónicas.

If a machine can digitally detect odors, perhaps the reverse is possible. Si una máquina puede detectar olores digitalmente, quizá sea posible lo contrario. The Tokyo Institute of Technology is reported to be working on an odor recorder and generator. Se informa de que el Instituto Tecnológico de Tokio está trabajando en un registrador y generador de olores. The plan is to design a gadget that can be pointed at an object, record its odor through 15 electronic noses, and recreate the odor by mixing together and vaporizing odors from a set of 96 nontoxic chemicals. El plan es diseñar un artilugio que pueda apuntarse a un objeto, registrar su olor a través de 15 narices electrónicas y recrear el olor mezclando y vaporizando olores de un conjunto de 96 sustancias químicas no tóxicas. If this device succeeds, it will move well beyond current odor generators. Si este dispositivo tiene éxito, superará con creces a los actuales generadores de olores. These emit only a small number of odors and have failed commercially. Éstas sólo emiten un pequeño número de olores y han fracasado comercialmente.

If odor recorders and generators prove to be feasible and affordable, Smell-O-Vision may be primed for a comeback, adding a new dimension to the moviegoing experience. Si se demuestra que los grabadores y generadores de olores son viables y asequibles, la Smell-O-Vision puede estar preparada para volver, añadiendo una nueva dimensión a la experiencia de ir al cine. It may even require a new film rating system: "Warning: This movie is rated R for Rotten. Puede que incluso sea necesario un nuevo sistema de clasificación de películas: "Advertencia: Esta película está clasificada R por podrida". Contains odors (hat some may find offensive." Contiene olores (que algunos pueden considerar ofensivos".