rare pattern thoughts in a blog

Smell lovers, rejoice! Just in case being assaulted by department store salespeople armed with perfume bottles isn't enough of an olfactory assult for you, now you can get spritzed with various fragrances during movies.

--At least if you're in Japan....

A new service from a major telecommunications company, NTT Communications Corp., will synchronize seven different smells to parts of "The New World," starring Colin Farrell.

A floral scent accompanies a love scene, while a mix of peppermint and rosemary is emitted during a tear-jerking scene. Joy is a citrus mix of orange and grapefruit, while anger is enhanced by a herb-like concoction with a hint of eucalyptus and tea tree.

The smells waft from special machines under the seats in the back rows of two movie theaters, which create different fragrances by controlling the mix of oils stored in the machines, company spokeswoman Akiko Suzaki said Wednesday.

This isn't a one-off thing, either. Apparently the scentifying is done using syncronized fragrance emitters which can run different scenting sequences:

Theaters will be able to download from the Internet different scent sequences for other films, Suzaki said.

The company began a similar service for homes in Japan last year. Owners of the $620 home version can download different programs to emit smells to accompany a horoscope reading or work as aromatherapy.

If this really catches on, it doesn't take much imagination to see where this could lead: Scent resampling, alternate odifying and even organic smell-o-rama.

It's not too hard to imagine the multinational media corporations getting upset if a market emerges for alternative scent programs and formulae for mainstream movies. This could take Mystery Science Theatre 3000 to a whole new level.

Related: Answers.com on the history of smell-o-vision.

About the author

Laura Scott is a web designer and developer.