Smoke rings

We had a workshop on smell. Simon started by introducing us to the history of scent toys and games.

Kōdō

We started with a simpler form of Kōdō, where you are subjected to three scents and have to remember them. Then we got to smell them again in a random order and we had to guess which ones they were. I took notes on the smells to try to categorize them and to remember.

  1. Citrus, tar, wood
  2. Citrus, vanilla, caramel
  3. Carnation, leather, dentist

I think most of us had all three right when guessing. Maybe Simon made the game a bit too easy.

Rose bombs

These rose water filled egg shells are interesting as an artifact. As eggs they feel very fragile, are a very good size and weight in the hand and afford throwing, they almost demand throwing. The history is several hundred years old and they were used to spice up dinners and parties. It's like an antique water ballon, but they are nicer to handle than balloons.

Four people play catch with a rose bomb

Vortex Cannons

Vortex cannons were a lot of fun. By blowing smoke rings, they can deliver smell over longish distances and target people. The smoke is just for visuals, it is easier to play around with if you can see the ring.

Vortex cannons shooting smoke rings
Vortex can be built easily and can deliver smell over a longer distance and with some accuracy

Combining this with computer vision and servos could make a fun project. A Raspberry Pi with a camera that turns to target people and shoot smells using a vortex cannon actuated by a solenoid. Maybe later.