Ordnance Survey add scents of Britain to personalised maps
The exciting new feature will evoke memories of the great outdoors
OS is known for their iconic set of over 600 OS Explorer and Landranger paper maps which are the most detailed maps to cover the entirety of Great Britain. The range of products also extends to personalised maps which allow you to create your own centre point, and add your own title and image on the front cover.
The new feature will allow customers to add different scents of Britain to their custom made paper maps which will include freshly cut grass, salty sea air, oak trees, lavender fields, a muddy dog after a long walk, and freshly manured fields for those city dwellers who might crave the countryside.
OS will also be investing in new digital scent technology so that OS Surveyors’ GPS equipment will be kitted out with the latest technology to capture memories in the form of smell that can be recorded, stored, and added as new scents to the paper maps in future.
"When you’re outdoors your senses are heightened with the sounds and smells all around you, and we want to make sure getting outside is enjoyable for everyone. Those scents often bring back memories whether that’s sitting around a campfire, the first snow of the season or dewy grass after heavy rain. We’re excited at OS to take customisation one step further so that our customers can now take the smells of their favourite locations and walks home with them. In the future, we’re hoping to expand the range of scented maps to create different smelling maps for each region. For example, that might be the smell of Kendal mint cake for the Lake District, Stilton cheese for Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and Leicestershire, freshly baked Welsh cakes, Scottish Whisky, Newcastle Brown Ale, and a whiff of a Cornish pasty for the most southwestern tip of England."
"Using the latest scratch and sniff technology, we’ll be able to print on demand OS paper maps that will feature the new scents chosen by customers for the ultimate in personalisation. The team have worked closely with OS to create microscopic capsules of each individual scent so that when you rub or scratch the printed map, the unique scent of the outdoors will be released and trigger your senses."
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