【每天一篇经济学人】Smell-O-Vision 2.0 嗅觉视觉2.0（202

文章来源：《经济学人》May 13th 2023 期 Science & technology 栏目 Smell-O-Vision 2.0

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It was one of those many inventions that never quite took off. In 1960, audiences watching the film “Scent of Mystery” got to experience the wonders of “Smell-O-Vision”. Mounted under the cinema seats, the system pumped out 30 different scents—from salty ocean breezes to whiffs of wine—at crucial moments in the plot. The system had its quirks. Those in the balcony complained that the smells reached them too late. Others found the scents to be too faint, or else irritatingly persistent. More novel than effective, Smell-O-Vision never really took root in Hollywood.

它是众多从未真正腾飞的发明之一。1960年，看《神秘的气味》电影的观众体验到了 "嗅觉视觉 "的神奇。该系统安装在电影院的座位下方，在关键剧情处散发出30种不同的气--从海风的咸咸味道到缕缕葡萄酒香。该系统有独特之处。但楼座上的观众抱怨说气味传到他们身边太晚。其他观众要么觉得这些气味太微弱，要么觉得气味太浓太久。嗅觉视觉效果平平，只是形式新颖，因此从未在好莱坞真正扎根。

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These days the cutting-edge of entertainment is video games and virtual reality, not films. Several groups are trying to bring scents to virtual worlds. In one paper published this week in Nature Communications, Xinge Yu at City University of Hong Kong and Yuhang Li at Beihang University describe two wearable “olfaction interfaces”. The first is the size of a plaster, and is affixed to the skin, like a fake moustache, under the user’s nose. The second, more capable version is a flexible face mask.

如今最前沿的娱乐是视频游戏和虚拟现实，而不是电影。一些团队正努力将气味带入虚拟世界。本周发表在《自然通讯》上的一篇论文中，香港城市大学的于欣格和北京航空航天大学的李宇航描述了两种可穿戴的“嗅觉接口”。第一种是石膏大小，像假胡子一样贴在用户鼻子下方的皮肤上。第二种是能力更强的灵活面罩。

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Both rely on heating tiny tiles of paraffin wax that have been impregnated with various liquid perfumes. The smaller version of the system uses two such tiles; the bigger one has nine. The researchers claim that they can generate a scent, such as mint or green tea, in as little as 1.44 seconds. The nine generators on the mask can combine to produce hundreds of possible odours.

两者都依赖于加热浸有各种液体香水的小石蜡。小版本（假胡子）使用两块石蜡；大版本（面罩）有九块。研究人员说，它们可以在短短1.44秒内产生一种气味，如薄荷味或绿茶味。面罩上的九个发生器可以结合起来，产生数百种气味。

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Drs Li and Yu have been beaten to market by OVR, a startup based in Vermont. Its headset uses a system of refillable cartridges, each of which can make thousands of scents. The firm’s newest product, the “ION3”, will be released later this year, and can be tied into existing game-creation tools with minimal fuss.

李博士和于博士的发明已被位于佛蒙特州的初创公司OVR 抢先上市。它的虚拟现实耳机使用一种可补充的墨盒系统，每个墨盒可以产生成数千种气味。该公司的最新产品 "ION3 "将于今年晚些时候发布，并且可以毫不费力地与现有的游戏制作工具结合起来。

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Getting smells right could make virtual worlds more compelling. Odours are famously evocative. The part of the brain that processes them connects directly to parts associated with emotions and memory. But the science is tricky.Unlike colour or sound, where wavelengths and frequencies combine in predictable ways, smell is not so straightforward. Altering a single chemical bond can shift a scent from sweet to rancid. Whether smelly VR will do better than smelly films remains to be seen. But perhaps one day users will be able to stop, swipe and smell the virtual roses.

对的气味可以使虚拟世界更具吸引力。众所周知，气味引发联想。大脑中处理气味的部分直接与情感和记忆有关的部分相连。但科学很棘手。与颜色或声音不同，色彩波长和声音频率以可预测的方式结合在一起，而气味则没那么简单。改变单个化学键就可以将气味从甜味转变为腐臭味。嗅觉VR是否会比嗅觉电影做得更好，尚无定论。但也许有一天，用户停下来刷一下设备就能闻到虚拟世界的玫瑰花香。