New Sony Nose Buds Allow Users To Blast Different Smells Into Nostrils
I was thinking about the two senses that the digital can currently reach, and the other three that it can’t. Smell and taste are pretty much ignored, and touch, although made the most of in the naming of various tablet devices, is conspicuous only in how it relates to visuals and sound…the actual touch sensation is always the same. Even in the corporate videos last week, every digital surface is smooth, and there is no indication that texture is digitised. This is a departure from the VR ideals of 15 years ago, as is the abandonment of touch and taste.
This does reflect a good quantity of analogue art and communication generally; with notable exceptions, even more tactile art like sculpture is usually not meant to be touched, and certainly a dinner or scent may be praised and valued, but isn’t usually meant to signify meaning (prosaic or artistic).
What the Onion expertly demonstrates is that the strangeness of the nose buds is mostly subjective. Why shouldn’t popcorn be the punk of the smell world? Why shouldn’t pine signify the conformity of easy listening?
what a great find Candace!
I think this is hilarious! I checked the date on this story in case it was 1st of April. I just wonder what would happen when you watch Apocalypse Now and hear the famous line ‘I love the smell of napalm in the morning.’ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bPXVGQnJm0w
I see there are also ‘… 6-second sample sniffs of a constantly growing collection of scents, including popular selections such as ocean, baby, peppermint coffee, and Italian restaurant, along with lesser-known odors like giraffe, Oklahoma City, and volcano.’
It would be great to create your own digital perfume…. They already offer giraffe… how about Giraf87. It would beat Chanel number 5!
If it is indeed true, seriously creative.
I wish it was true!! The Onion has been responsible for a legion of misunderstandings…most famously in 2000, with this exposé on Harry Potter and satanism : )
I have to admit that this headline convinced me that modern mobile phones could charge themselves: O2 urges rivals to stop providing chargers with new phones.
I suppose the decontextualisation of repurposing contributes significantly to this kind of thing…!