smell-o-vision

From smell +‎ -o- (interfix used for ease of pronunciation) +‎ vision, probably popularized by Smell-O-Vision (proper noun) which was recoined in 1959 by Mike Todd Jr. (1929–2002), the American producer of the film Scent of Mystery (1960), as the name of the system invented by the Swiss scientist Hans Laube (1900–1976) used for the film.^[1] The term was possibly modelled after terms used in the motion picture industry such as Panavision (a company manufacturing cameras and lenses) and VistaVision (an early widescreen motion picture film format).^[2]

The variant spelling smellevision is possibly a blend of smell + television.

• (Received Pronunciation, General American) IPA^(key): /ˈsmɛləˌvɪʒən/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Hyphenation: smell-o-vis‧ion

smell-o-vision (uncountable)

1. (originally and chiefly US, film, television, humorous) A (supposed) technology consisting of cinematography with the addition of olfaction, often portrayed as far-fetched or futuristic.

   Synonym: smellies

   Coordinate term: feelie

   • 1942 March 30, “We Disagree with the Photographer! ”, in Henry R[obinson] Luce, editor, Life, volume 12, number 13, Chicago, Ill.; New York, N.Y.: Time Inc., →ISSN, →OCLC, page 74, column 1:

     "Magnificent!" shouted our supercritical photographer as he leveled his eye at this picture [of a ham]. […] Perhaps "smell-o-vision" is needed to enjoy fully this Easter treat. Or, better still, taste SUNNYFIELD HAM yourself—either smoked or cooked ready-to-eat.

   • 1944 October 28, Michael Sasanoff, Bob Clampett, director, “The Old Grey Hare”, in Merrie Melodies, Burbank, Calif.: Warner Bros. Pictures; Vitaphone Corporation, →OCLC:

     SMELLEVISION REPLACES TELEVISION! Carl Stalling sez, "It will never work!"

     Appears as a newspaper headline in the cartoon.

   • 1966 March, Joseph A. Brunton, Jr., “A Few Words from the Chief: ‘Is the Good Turn Obsolete?’”, in Robert Hood, editor, Boys’ Life: The Magazine for All Boys, volume LVI, number 3, New Brunswick, N.J.: Boy Scouts of America, →OCLC, page 46, column 3:

     New model cars come out each year; the split-T and the soccer kick are new football offensive weapons. Black-and-white, then color TV and pretty soon smell-o-vision—that's progress.

   • 1991, Michael Brian Schiffer, “A Portable Depression”, in The Portable Radio in American Life, Tucson, Ariz.; London: University of Arizona Press, →ISBN, page 116:

     Other techno-mancers forecast fax in the home, "smellevision" (television sets equipped to emit appropriate odors for each scene), and luminescent paints that store sunlight during the day and glow at night. These new products would surely brighten the future.

   • 1994, Corey Sandler, Econoguide 1995: Walt Disney World, Epcot and Universal Studios Florida, Chicago, Ill.: Contemporary Books, →ISBN, page 140:

     The film includes some marvelous 3-D special effects as well as flashing lights, a bubblemaker, smell-o-vision, and a surprise from the skies as well as a live actor and a cannon.

   • 1995, Michael Joyce, “‘So Much Time, so Little to Do’: Empowering Silence and the Electric Book”, in Of Two Minds: Hypertext Pedagogy and Poetics (Studies in Literature and Science), Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan Press, →ISBN, page 97:

     Meanwhile, in far-off laboratories of the Military-Infotainment Complex (to advance upon Stuart Moulthrop's phrase) at Disney or—yea, verily, even unto—Apple, some scientists work on synchronous smell-o-vision with real-time simulated fragrance degradation shifting from fresh ink to old mold; […]

   • 1999, Nora Paul, Margot Williams, “Food Resources on the Web”, in Paula J. Hane, editor, Great Scouts! Cyberguides for Subject Searching on the Web, Medford, N.J.: CyberAge Books, Information Today, →ISBN, part I (Life & Times), page 25:

     So, until Netscape comes up with Smell-o-vision, reading about and looking at food on the Web will have to stave off those hunger pains.

   • 1999 July 1, Thomas H[ayes] Davenport, “ThinkTank: The Net Changes (Almost) Nothing”, in Abbie Lundberg, editor, CIO, volume 12, number 18, Framingham, Mass.: CIO Communications, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 24, column 3:

     Perhaps someday the SML (smelly markup language) standard will make it possible to connect a smell-o-vision peripheral to my FireWire port, and I'll be able to sniff the circle of boiled dough [a bagel] on the screen.

   • 2005, Stephen D. O’Leary, “Utopian and Dystopian Possibilities of Networked Religion in the New Millennium”, in Morten T. Højsgaard, Margit Warburg, editors, Religion and Cyberspace, Abington, Oxfordshire; New York, N.Y.: Routledge, →ISBN, part I (Coming to Terms with Religion and Cyberspace), page 43:

     What will happen to our spiritual senses when the next step is taken, i.e. when rituals are performed purely in the realm of the virtual? […] [I]f the full sensory experience of the ritual is diminished by its reduction to the text, sound, and imagery now possible on the Web (I don't think we're ready for networked smell-o-vision), what in turn may be gained by working within these limitations, and what are the possibilities of transcending them?

   • 2021, Jude Stewart, “Introduction: Why a Book on Smell?”, in Revelations in Air: A Guidebook to Smell, Penguin Books, →ISBN, page xvii:

     The dream of layering smells onto movie-watching is nearly as old as movie-watching itself. This history is a pileup of interesting failures, technical experiments, and overweening optimism in smell-o-vision’s eventual appeal. […] Most interestingly, people who’d bought tickets to see these movies seemed sneakily pleased when smell-o-vision failed.

• smellevision, Smell-o-vision

• Smell-O-Vision on Wikipedia.Wikipedia