Multisensory mapping: Manhattan smells

I was talking with PJ Carlino the other day about the themes of this course. He mentioned that he is an avid cyclist, and he has developed the habit of thinking about places in terms of their elevation is relation to his current position. Most people imagine a flat map of the place they are thinking about, but in PJ's mind, this mental map has height, too, because that information is relevant when you are planning a bike trip. This is an example of multi-sensory perception, because he is mentally combining his knowledge of the horizontal position of places (their x,y coordinates) based on familiarity with flat maps, with his memories of having to work harder to propel his bicycle up hills. Along the same lines, I saw a funny cartoon in the New York Times earlier this week. A guy had created a map of Manhattan, and then traveled all over to document the different smells he observed in various neighborhoods. You can check out an interactive version of his map and the description of smells he encountered here.

From Screen Captures