Odors

Latest

  • Smell-O-Vision on your smartphone: Scentee sends smells instead of texts (video)

    by 
    Steve Dent
    Steve Dent
    05.13.2013

    The dubious ability to send odors to your pals just became a distinct possibility thanks to the Scentee app and hardware from a company called ChatPerf. Seen in Japan, it works by letting you load a liquid refill into the device, which is then mixed and dispersed into the air at the command of an included app. The company noted a few of the myriad possible uses, like sending a smell to a friend who also has the device, perking up a yoga session, helping you wake up or making a shoot 'em up video game more lively with the odor of, say, gunpowder. It's still a prototype, but the company hopes to bring it to market with a variety of different odors, and launch it for iPhone or Android devices. Meanwhile, you can sniff it out in the video after the break.

  • Olly: the web-connected robot that converts pings to odors

    by 
    Darren Murph
    Darren Murph
    10.29.2011

    What if there were a way to add smells to the things you see every single day on the internet? To some, just the thought of that there scenario would induce nausea. To others -- primarily those who spend their days Googling various rose gardens around the globe -- it just might be the extra dimension to surfing that they've been waiting for. If you happen to find yourself tucked into that second camp, we'd like to introduce you to Olly, the web-connected robot that's capable of emitting smells based on inputs from the 'net. The critter was dreamed up by Tim Pryde and the folks surrounding the Don-8r (Foundry, if you're curious), and while there's currently no way to purchase one, instructions are forthcoming to produce your own with a 3D printer. In fact, it's recommended that users build a few, stack 'em up and connect different inputs (Twitter, Instagram, your mum's vegetarian cooking blog) to each one. It's the perfect cacophony... or the perfect disaster, depending on your browsing habits. [Thanks, Tim]