experience needs all your senses
SFER IK ARt Proposal
The Scented Jungle Through Time
- 1. Project Description
- In this VR-based project, you are immersed in the aromatic evolution of the Mayan jungle, guided by the whispers of ancient fragrances. Delve into the olfactory tapestry of time, through the lens of an AI system focused on unlocking the scents woven into the soul of the land throughout the ages. Explore the mysteries and ancestral knowledge lingering in the air. As technology merges with tradition, AI becomes the key to unlocking hidden stories and forgotten wisdom, where the sensory essence of the jungle becomes a time portal, bridging the gap between history, the present and the future.
The basic idea is to situate myself physically within the landscape, collect molecular scent samples from various areas that exemplify the key regions of the jungle, and use those samples, along with a skilled scent designer, to recreate the olfactory signatures for reuse in an immersive VR experience. The visual and auditory environments would also be sampled whilst in residence for the creation of this experience.
For the scentscapes in particular, a bespoke AI system (to be developed) will take the current-day sampled molecular signatures as input and project them backwards and forwards in time via a custom evolutionary algorithm that uses climate data and greenscape cover as part of the projection method. These new scent projections will then be created by the scent designer(s) to enable participants to travel within a past, present and future olfactory landscape.
- As part of the experience I also envision whispered stories (ancestral knowledge) wafting in the auditory breeze in conjunction with the visuals and scent scapes. These stories would be collected and recorded from local people who have ties to the jungle environment.
- NOTE: An alternative installation could utilize large screens displaying the immersive walkthrough (rather than have all visitors wear VR headsets). The scents would be be released in synchronization with the playback on these large displays that could be situated within the natural environment. This form of the experience, while less immersive, would still convey the frangrances of the ancestral, current and future sensory landscapes.
- 2. Artist's statement
- I believe in using immersive technologies in my art to bring a full sensory envelop to participants, engaging them in a highly evocative and emotional journey they can explore and become part of. To this end, I have developed a scent collar wearable (with individual modules that can also be placed in an environment. See https://remniscent.com/) for my virtual reality work, and, in addition to aesthetic visuals, I have implemented a fuller range of auditory signals including infrasound frequencies that are felt viscerally, rather than heard. All these techniques bring a person to an intimate experience where they are immersed in a believable world.
- 3. Technical Specifications
- There are four phases to this work, the collection phase, the processing phase, the production phase, and the outreach phase.
- Phase 1: Collection of material, reference and assets for the immersive VR work will be done in situ, during residency. This includes visuals, texture maps, sound collection, story gathering, and the collection of the current scent landscape of the key areas, using a commercial head space molecular scent collection system.
- Phase 2: The second phase will be to set up the bespoke AI system that will analyze scent samples. In this phase also, the visual and auditory assets will be transformed into a navigable virtual reality environment that traverses a visitor though the evolution of the jungle land. Scent design for the VR experience of the current samples will also be done in this section.
- Phase 3: The third phase consists of taking the output of the AI's ancient and future scent projections and creating the bespoke scents that weave the story from past through present to future. This will be done in consultation with experts from the center who understand the culture and scope of the Mayan jungle area. The final VR work will be tested by this population below sharing with the broader public.
- Phase 4: The last phase is deployment of the immersive experience to. abroader public outreach that will be determined by the appropriate stakeholders.
- 4. Visual Representation
- See a representative image sample of the envisioned jungle environment above. The final style will be determined after the data and asset collection phase.
- 5. Budget estimate
- Scent data collection
Head Space System (Think of this as an odor “camera”) for molecular capture
$10000
Scent designer(s) $30,000
VR world creation (models, audio, scent delivery)
$30,000
VR Gear for delivery and participant use (headset, scent release collar, computer)
$15,000
Travel
$10000
Miscellaneous supplies
$5000
Total: $100,000
My Passions
I have always been enamored of two things: dense wild landscapes (growing up as a semi-feral child in the South Florida of the 1950s, before its extensive development), and the enigmatic Mayan culture (I wrote my first paper about the Mayan ritual sacrifices in 7th grade!). This project brings these two passions together, along with my love of multisensory technology together is ways that can spark these passions in others.
Visual Samples
There are so many ways to generate stylistic vision now utilizing AI tools. The challenge is to build a full immersive experience with the desired style that fits the sensibilities of the final work. This will be determined with input from stakeholders chosen by or par the AZULIK group