The smells of war - in computer games?

A report from England suggests that computer war games may soon smell like the real thing.

The Ministry of Defence is part-funding a project in which foul smells are released into the air during training videos so that recruits literally learn to sniff out trouble.

If the technology proves a success, it is expected to be taken up by manufacturers of top-selling consoles – such as the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.

The team of psychologists and computer engineers developing the technology, on behalf of the British Army, plan to bombard troops with odours ranging from body sweat to diesel exhaust.

The aim is to teach recruits that the presence of some smells and absence of others could indicate danger.

At the moment, the technology is still in its infancy. But the scientists say it will soon be possible to design games in which the screech of tyres during a high-speed chase will automatically trigger the release of the smell of burning rubber.

Professor Bob Stone, research director of the Human Factors Integration Defence Technology Centre (HFIDTC) at Birmingham University, believes the technique could save soldiers’ lives.

‘Let’s say a unit is passing through a village somewhere in the Arab world where there is always the smell of cooking meat,’ explained Professor Stone.

‘On the day in question that smell is not there. That could mean the village has been evacuated because the enemy are using it as a base from which to attack British troops. Smell is the most underrated and underused of our senses.

‘If we rely only on sights and sounds, we are in danger of closing our minds to what is going on around us. And for a soldier, that can mean the difference between life and death.’

His ‘scent delivery system’ consists of a compressed air chamber with four fans and eight compartments, each of which holds a pot of wax, chemically impregnated with a particular odour.

Those in Professor Stone’s armoury so far include cordite, burning electrical wire, weapon fire and harbour and hospital smells, though other unpleasant stinks, such as mildew and cat urine, will be added to the list.

. . .

Professor Stone believes the smells will prove attractive to the commercial sector.

‘An American company called Trisenx is already working on something similar and I am sure there will be a successful crossover from military use to the home computer industry.

‘Within three to five years there could be games on the market with smells designed to confuse or excite the player.'

There's more at the link.

I can see the utility of this in military training, sure . . . but I hope that it never gets taken up by the 'war game industry'. I've been there and done that, militarily speaking - and I never, ever want some of the smells of the 'real deal' to be in or near my home, or anyone else's! Consider:

• Bowels ruptured by a bullet;
• The hot, coppery smell of large quantities of freshly-spilled blood (and the taste of its scent in the back of your throat);
• The burnt-pork smell of bodies in a burning vehicle or building;
• The stench of a day-old or two-day-old battlefield when the bodies of the dead start to bloat in the sun . . .

No, thank you. I have enough problems with my memories of such things. I don't need them to be incorporated into a 'game' - because war's anything but a game.

I learned that one the hard way.

Peter