I Love the Smell of Sim-Napalm in the Morning

July 25, 2006 11:35 AM

The Smell of War -- the Institute for Creative Technologies preps Quake-happy teens to become first-person shooters in the non-virtual war on terror. Now in Odorama.
posted by digaman (22 comments total)

Napalm? In the morning?
posted by Cyrano at 11:39 AM on July 25, 2006

Sorry for the following self-link, but I happen to be one of the few civilians who have taken a tour of this immersive training system -- but in its pre-smellerific incarnation. I wrote about it two years ago in a Wired article that contains additional background information about ICT, including its support by GOP Senator James Inhofe, who has been in the news lately comparing global-warming experts to Nazis.
posted by digaman at 11:42 AM on July 25, 2006

Cyrano, it's a reference to an infamous line in Apocalypse Now, which is more relevant than evar.
posted by digaman at 11:43 AM on July 25, 2006

ICT's website.
posted by digaman at 11:47 AM on July 25, 2006

Wow, crazy.

I just had a thought- since this Administration has pretty much decided it can snoop on whomever, whenever, why don't they just tap into XBoxLive traffic to see who the really good players at their FPS titles are? Only instead of Robert Preston in a spaceship, you just get an Army recruiter.
posted by mkultra at 11:49 AM on July 25, 2006

Tim Lenoir and Henry Lowood's seminal paper on the "military-entertainment complex." [PDF link]
posted by digaman at 11:57 AM on July 25, 2006

MIC* Candy ?

Move over redbull...

*military-industrial complex
posted by Unregistered User at 12:06 PM on July 25, 2006

I love the smell of teen spirit in the morning.
posted by Kickstart70 at 12:13 PM on July 25, 2006

OMG WALL HAX!!!!11!1
posted by keswick at 12:25 PM on July 25, 2006

People still play Quake?
posted by bardic at 12:46 PM on July 25, 2006

Yay, just stick an open glass of diesel next to my keyboard and I can pretend I'm in a tank.
posted by furtive at 12:47 PM on July 25, 2006

We need less Battlefield 2 and more Balance of Power.

Frankly, I could see the appeal of total immersion odor (did anyone else just picture a locker room?) for games like Warcraft, but not for these shooters.

Thanks for the link to the Lenoir paper.
posted by Pastabagel at 12:57 PM on July 25, 2006

Post in the wrong thread.
posted by Smedleyman at 1:20 PM on July 25, 2006 [5 favorites]

I think this is great, from a pacifistic/realist "war is hell" perspective.


Give those boys a whiff or two of perforated bowel, theirs, or someone elses, and maybe we'll cut back on the gung-ho horseshit.
posted by stenseng at 2:03 PM on July 25, 2006

Smedleyman is awarded one point.
posted by JHarris at 2:11 PM on July 25, 2006

A recent Wired article (not online yet) talked about using this technology to help soldiers recover from PTSD. In the article, military personnel asked researcher if they could include the smell of burning flesh. So far, it's just burning tires, gun powder, and cooked lamb.
posted by lunalaguna at 2:43 PM on July 25, 2006

Vietnam, 1972 — just a photo, but with a little imagination you can also hear and smell war just fine. No gameplay required.
posted by cenoxo at 3:27 PM on July 25, 2006

why don't they just tap into XBoxLive traffic to see who the really good players at their FPS titles are?

Gary Webb's last story, "The Killing Game", covers something like this, mostly through the "America's Army" game.
posted by First Post at 4:18 PM on July 25, 2006

it's a reference to an infamous line in Apocalypse Now, which is more relevant than evar.

Which got me thinking about another relevant and powerful moment in the film...

"Are my methods unsound?"

"I don't see any method at all, sir."
posted by rollbiz at 4:23 PM on July 25, 2006

reminded me of the beginning of Fast Food Nation, where he visits the flavor maker plant and eats a bowl of McDonalds French Fries-flavored mush*.

gunsmoke isn't just a scent, you know. gotta get that tang on the tongue before it's really really real seeming.

*or something like that; I read it a while back.
posted by carsonb at 5:21 PM on July 25, 2006

Who dares enter the Chamber of Farts? Unbearable smell as weapon.
posted by longsleeves at 5:38 PM on July 25, 2006

Maybe good smells will calm the bad guys down. For a more appetizing alternative, how about throwing baskets of cinnamon rolls (or croissants, whatever) at them with trebuchets?

Aromatherapy to the barricades!
posted by cenoxo at 6:13 PM on July 25, 2006