Reading Pods - Sensory Experience

After going on this augmented reality tangent I suddenly hit a wall - this was not what I wanted to do anymore, because the main reason I went on this tangent had been... lost. Originally it was about using the digital virtual to create the experiential virtual, so that all of the visitors could experience the archives gallery the way they want to experience it, so that they could learn the way they want to learn. But with the overlaying of digital information onto the physical realm it seemed that everyone would still view the same things, it would just be a little bit cooler than a regular gallery.

So if everyone sees the same things, how can we allow them to see something different?
How do they own their experience? How is it unique?

I started to think about the reading pods specifically - their functions, and how users can adapt them to suit.

VISION:
The above image speculates on how users can change the interior space of the pods to suit the environment they wish to work in. The image is projected 360 degrees through projectors in the table or roof (or both?)

I began to investigate the other senses (than vision), that is sound, smell, touch and taste.

SOUND:

This one is easy - all it takes is the installation of speakers within the pods to create a surround-sound experience of the auditory elements of the location.

SMELL:

At first I could not imagine being able to create the smells of a location, or that it would be very difficult - somehow manipulating air-freshener type devices. Fortunately for me, someone has already invented a digital smell device! It's called the iSmell Personal Scent Synthesiser, which works by drawing in air at the back and blowing it over tiny vials of oils that are being heated selectively in response to signals from the computer. The air picks up the oily fragrance and wafts it out through a 2-inch vent.

DigiScents has indexed thousands of smells based on their chemical structure and their place on the scent spectrum. Each scent is then coded and digitized into a small file.

TOUCH:

Again, a simple solution is achieved by manipulating existing technology. With the use of ducted air conditioning, ventilated air with an appropriate temperature suited to the desired virtual location is blown into the pod room in the direction of the user, to create a sense of an outdoors breeze.

TASTE:

Although this one cannot be directly achieved, as we don't specifically want anyone tasting anything within the reading pods, upon investigation it was found that this sense is connected directly to the sense of smell. Therefore it is safe to assume that it can be categorised under the SMELL heading.