... "Smell-TV" existed?

Watching a movie usually means getting caught in another world, experiencing a dramatic, funny, exciting or romantic story and being entertained. As viewer you are almost fully involved in the happening with all your senses. Almost? Well, we still have to imagine some important components, as e.g. the suiting smell in different scenes. But what if “Smell TV” existed in all our homes?

Probably, watching a love couple floating on cloud nine on a meadow full of flowers could be even more romantic through the enchanting scent of roses, buttercups and lilac.  The stench of burned grass and grey smoke would emphasize the atmosphere of a fight in an action movie and every mouth would start to water when a five-star-chef is preparing an outstanding meal in a cooking show and the smell of a juicy steak and a warm chocolate cake is filling the viewer’s noses.
Certainly, such an invention would optimize the entertainment value of our television and cinemas, but we should be careful. As always there are also some negative sides we have to take in count.

If we were able to perceive all components of a movie also physically, nothing would be left to the customer’s fantasy. A character’s movement or a smell dictates how we imagine and interpret a story and makes our film-experience unique. Our brain would be oversaturated by all sensory impressions. Where would be the difference to a real-life experience? As more realistic a movie would get through “smell-TV” as more difficult it would presumably be to come up to your daily life again. It wouldn’t be absurd to guess that such a machine would addict people faster and manipulate them more. Therefore, also product manufactures would surely use the satisfaction of our smell-sense to affect viewers with their TV-commercials.  It could be more difficult and demand more self-discipline to resist buying a pleasant flavored styling mousse than to get a grip on yourselves when you just watch a model with fluffy, in a breeze wafting hair.

Obviously, “smell-TV” would have its attractions and open us totally new dimensions of enjoyment, but it could also lead to a misguidance of the audience. That’s why we should be careful with those kinds of inventions and consume “smell-TV” in moderation - in case it will be introduced into the market.