Jimmy, Jacqueline and Eddy

Files of experiments.

Part 1.
Sound:
It works in a similar manner as to how microphones detect sound. The vibrations of sound are detected in the ear, changed to electrical signals and transmitted by the nerves to the brain where it is processed and recorded. Into more detail, the sound waves vibrate the ear drum which is inside the ear. The waves is then process through a fluid inside a narrow tube called the 'cochlea', which then vibrates tiny hairs that vibrates into messages that are sent to the brain for processing.


Smell:
Smell is the sense that tells you about scents, odours, and fumes in the air around you. Something smells when particles of it float in the air that you breathe. When you breathe in, air goes through your nostrils and the tiny nerve endings in your nostrils will detect smells then send signals to the brain that help you to recognize the smell. On their way through the brain, smell signals pass through an area that is responsible for memories and feelings. This may be the reason that smells bring back memories, and affect the way we feel.

Here are some case studies on experimenting on people who has synesthesia
Another example is a female who has synesthesia, as she takes part of a process acupuncture she can see color whilst the needle is penetrating through her skin. This is what she sees:
To hear her process http://media.putfile.com/female-with-synesthesia

Part 2.
Both hearing and smelling are dominant features of the human senses. The link between sound and smell is quite interesting. As you hear a particular sound it can remind us a particular event or a sense of smell. Vice versa, smelling an odor could also memorise an event or a piece of music. In relation to synesthesia combining sound and smell, or any other senses together its called "mixed signals". I.e smell --> sound / sound --> smell, smelling sounds. By combining these senses together, it is interesting to suggest that it could possibly increase the perception of sound or smell, or even both.
As you can see the table of possibilities of synesthesia

Smell
Sex differences:
On standard tests of smelling ability (incl. odour detection, discrimination and identification) women consistently score significantly higher than men. Other tests have shown both men and women are able to recognise their own children or spouses by scent. In one well-known experiment, women and men were able to distinguish T-shirts worn by their marriage partners, from among dozens of others, by scent alone.
Mood effects:
Our olfactory receptors are directly connected to the limbic system of the brain, which is an area that is responsible for emotion. Smells can evoke strong emotional reactions and in surveys on reactions to odours, it shows that many of our olfactory likes and dislikes are based purely on emotional associations.
Although olfactory sensitivity generally declines with age, pleasant fragrances have been found to have positive effects on mood in all age groups.

Perception effects:
The positive emotional effects of pleasant fragrance can also affect our perceptions of other people. In experiments, a pleasant fragrance tends to give higher “attractiveness rating” to people in photographs. E.g. If a person clearly outstandingly beautiful, or extremely ugly, fragrance does not affect our judgment. However, if the person is just ‘average’, a pleasant fragrance will tip the balance of our evaluation in his or her favour.
In one study, the presence of an unpleasant odour led subjects not only to give lower ratings to photographed individuals, but also to judge paintings as less professional.

Vanilla:
Scent-preferences are often a highly personal matter. There are some fragrances which appear to be universally perceived as ‘pleasant’- such as ‘vanilla’, and increasingly popular ingredient in perfumes. It has long been a standard ‘pleasant odour’ in psychological experiments. Various attempts have been made to explain the popularity of vanilla fragrances. Many have tended to focus on the pleasant childhood memories associated with the smell of vanilla, its comforting milky warmth. Vanilla scent has been also said to be novelists and poets favourite device to evoke vivid memories. Vanilla is associated not only with warmth, softness and caring, but also has connotations of purity and simplicity. The term ‘plain vanilla’ used by typesetters and graphic designer, it means ‘untouched’ text – text in its natural, basic and original state. This term is now often used outside the publishing world, and anything that is simple, pure, honest and unadulterated may be referred to as ‘plain vanilla’.

Part 3.
Sound
Art:
Composition IV, 1911, Wassily Kandinsky

Kandinsky appreaciation for both music and art, simply to express the inner feelings of the human soul. Famous quote: "Color is the power which directly influences the soul. Color is the key board, the eyes are the hammers, the soul is the piano with the strings. The artist is the hand which plays, touching one key to another, to cause vibrations in the soul"

Smell
Culture:
Western cultures:
Smell is probably the most undervalued of the senses in modern Western cultures, and is reflected in our language. All of the other senses have positive, complimentary associations in everyday language. We may speak of a person as ‘visionary’, ‘keen-eyed’, ‘having a good ear’, ‘a good listener’. We praise ‘a light touch’ and ‘good taste’ etc…the word ‘smell’ needs to use carefully because it has a negative meaning unless we specify it with an adjective. When we simply state that something or someone ‘smells’, we have specify whether they ‘smell good’ or ‘smell nice’.

Other cultures:
In many non-Western cultures, smell has long been established as the emperor of the senses.
On the Andaman Island, the universe and everything in it is defined by smell. Their calendar is constructed on the basis of the odours of the flowers which come into bloom at different times of the years. Each season is named after a particular odour. Their personal identity is also defined by smell. When greeting someone, the Ongee do not ask “How are you?”, but instead, they ask “How is your nose?”
For the Dogon people of Mali, odour and sound are believed to be intrinsically related because both travel through air.
Amazonian desana, the sense of smell is highly valued, and odour is considered to be the essence of personal identity and mixing of odours is often carefully regulated. Marriage is only allowed between persons of different odours. All members of a tribal group a believed to share a similar odour, so spouses must be chosen from other tribal group.
The dangers of odour-mixing are even more extreme for another Malay Peninsula people, the Temiar. The Temiar believe that each person has an odour-soul, located in the lower back. If you pas too closely behind a person, the odour-soul is disturbed and mingles with your body, causing disease. This must be prevented by calling out ‘odour odour’ whenever you approach a person from behind.

Part 4.
On the way to meet Eddy

Jimmy:
On the train from Dandenong to Melbourne Central (1hour travel) listening to my Ipod shuffle on my right ear, and the left ear piece is on Jacqueline's ear; at the same time my left ear is listening to the sounds inside the train as well outside the train.

Sound:
This is what i could hear while listening to the Ipod at the same time.
- People's conversation, however it's quite hard to understand to hear what they're saying, eventhough the volume of the
Ipod is quite low.
- As the train stops to the next station, I can hear the brakes screeching. As it's starts to move, I can hear the power
starting up, as if the turbines or engine powering up.
- Air movement from outside. Cars, trees, traffic.
- The wheels from the train grinding onto the tracks (metal on metal)
- Alarm going off as the door is shutting.

Smell:
- I can smell old female's perfume.
- Rain smell.
- Mint, due to the time Jacquleine offered me extra chewing gum.

Feel:
At that time, I felt abit uncomfortable as if I was clostraphobic and a heating sensation where I couldn't breathe. This was because, I believe, it was crowded. However, listening to my Ipod shuffle calmed things down and hyped up to my favourite song, "2pac keep ya head up". The awsome lyrics and background music works very well to calm me down. Overall, I want to focus more into a combination of sound and emotions, the feelings that are portrayed as you listen to music or sound.
Crowded, limited space. I felt that being in this space is clostraphobic, and being sucked in, in tight little spaces. However in some point you do feela sense of safety, which is a possitive thing because there is so many people with you.

Jacquleine:
On the train listening to Jimmy's music.

Sound:
- Train doors, beeping closing.
- People talking. Some are eating.
- People closing their umberlla.
- Mobile's ringing.

Smell:
During this time, I have a block nose and can't smell anything. But i can feel air coming through my nose.

Feel:
The floors are wet and it's raining. The train is packed, basically feeling dirty, messy because people are walking onto the train with wet hair and clothes. Most people holding their umberalla and listeing to their Ipods or MP3's. Feeling messy, and beeping sound of the train door is annoying.Jacqueline and Jimmy listening to Ipod in one ear, at the same time listening to the surrondings.

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