Hasta La Ideas

Most of us are familiar with the basic mechanics of a digital SLR camera (that’s Single Lens Reflex for those of you with the Google search bar open), which essentially enables image capture through the use of a mirror and prism system. The real brilliance of the SLR is that is allows a photographer to see exactly what they are shooting and reproduce it with the click of a button—a far cry from the viewfinder cameras of yesteryear where you weren’t sure how your photo might turn out. So the idea of a direct reproduction is powerful… but what if you wanted to capture a smell instead of a sight? Enter the Madeline: an Analog Odor Camera.

Designer Amy Radcliffe employs a technique known in the perfume biz as ‘Headspace Capture’ to collect and record the things that emit odors. In traditional headspace capture (most often used by perfumers and botanists), a glass bell is placed over the odor of interest to create an airtight seal over the scented object. The air inside the bell is swept through a tube and into trap that is housed in the main unit of the Madeline by a small air pump. The Madeline then filters out the scent molecules from the air so that they can be analyzed. Just as a digital SLR captures light input for photography, the Madeline records an exact copy of the smell data for reproduction. Radcliffe writes:

If an analogue, amateur-friendly system of odour capture and synthesis could be developed, we could see a profound change in the way we regard the use and effect of smells in our daily lives. From manipulating our emotional wellbeing through prescribed nostalgia, to the functional use of conditioned scent memory, our olfactory sense could take on a much more conscious role in the way we consume and record the world.

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