Have you ever wished you could actually smell what you are looking at while browsing online? While sending scents across the web has long felt like a distant sci-fi dream, researchers have just taken a massive leap forward by developing a way to transmit real aromas digitally.
The end of clunky desktop setups
Unlike older, clunky desktop setups, scratch-and-sniff cards, or virtual reality headsets that required manual button-pushing, a team of scientists from The Ohio State University and Zhejiang Laboratory has created a fully automated, hands-free system. The innovation relies on an artificial intelligence electronic nose, or e-nose, that spots and analyzes chemical compounds linked to specific scents.
Once the AI classifies the odor, it shoots digital data over the internet to a receiver named Scentronic.
Wearable scents and smart receivers
This compact Scentronic platform can be built directly into wearable accessories like bracelets, necklaces, or wristbands. Instead of piping actual scent molecules through cyberspace, the remote device takes the digital signal and triggers its built-in mechanism to release a matching scented mist right near the user.
So far, the team has trained the e-nose to recognize five everyday staples: coffee, beer, red wine, cake and orange. During tests with healthy volunteers, participants correctly identified individual scents from the device about 73% of the time. When paired aromas, like coffee and orange, were sent over together, users still hit roughly 71% accuracy. Speed-wise, the system reacts to basic smell signals in just 0.6 seconds, though more complex food blends take a bit longer to classify.
A whiff of virtual reality
The scientists even built a prototype cup that pairs with a mixed-reality headset, letting users pick a virtual drink while the cup dispenses the corresponding real-world flavors and smells.
While we aren’t quite ready to smell grilling hot dogs from a football tailgate through our phones just yet, it is safe to say that the chances of that happening are getting ever closer.
Right now, the tech is strictly a research prototype. Moving toward commercial use means tackling real-world conditions like mixed ambient smells, expanding the scent library and working out miniaturization, refilling methods and manufacturing costs. Still, the idea of adding a true sense of smell to our daily digital life is getting closer than ever.
Sources: Reuters, Tech Xplore