With VR we can already see and hear. We might as well add touch, taste, and smell. With our phone our we can already send pictures, voicemails, and even videos. Have you thought about sending scents via the phone? Back in the days we never thought that we could do all these things without a mobile phone. Being able to smell or share a scent could be another feature that can be added to our mobile devices. I have searched on the web and it seems that there were some technologies out there but it was not successful.
Why? Scent can make our experience even better. Have you thought of watching a cooking show and smell the food? Maybe you want to purchase a cream or a perfume and you want to smell to see if you like it, a digital scent would be great.
I found an interesting video by Param that explains a little bit of sending a scent. https://youtu.be/bWFrx9GSIGg
There was also an item called Scentee that sends certain odors it works with cartridges of certain items. Here is their website: https://scentee.com/_balloon
So far it seems that sending a scent might depend on an additional accessory that would reproduce the scent. Maybe as technology advances, we might have this feature integrated into our mobile devices.
It is being developed, there’s an article from 2018 that talks about the experiments they are making https://www.nbcnews.com/mach/science/digital-smell-technology-could-let-us-transmit-odors-online-chats-ncna940121 but we are far from sending a digital scent as we do with pictures.
The Internet of Senses (IoS) has become a trending topic when discussing digital futures. Given how closely the sense of smell is linked to memory, exploiting this sense would be beneficial for education, training, and quite desirable in marketing ventures. The current technology is being developed for mobile devices, and the means to provide a scent within a localized area has already been developed.
This article discusses how one company created a digital nose: https://www.zdnet.com/article/this-digital-nose-could-make-your-coffee-smell-better-and-improve-your-cooking/
In the linked text, machine learning is mentioned as the cornerstone to hybridizing biochemical detection with a datatbase. The deep learning and other online networks is bringing artifical intelligence to life, literally, as more human senses are added to digital interactions.
The IoS appears to be a growing significance. Researchers are attempting to recreate the scents from 16th century Europe in order to better understand that time period: https://odeuropa.eu/ whereas others have developed a means to digitally profile one’s identity by odour: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s41935-020-00189-0. This resurgence of the importance of odour may become a prominent part of immersive technology for our futures.
Resources
PHYSIOLOGY
https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2020/02/how-scent-emotion-and-memory-are-intertwined-and-exploited/#:~:text=Odors%20take%20a%20direct%20route,limbic%20system%2C%E2%80%9D%20Murthy%20said.&text=For%20decades%20individuals%20and%20businesses,the%20evocative%20power%20of%20smell.
TECHNOLOGY
https://www.timesofisrael.com/digitizing-odors-israelis-whiff-future-with-smellophone-tech-breakthrough/
https://interestingengineering.com/the-internet-of-senses-digital-aroma
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/341276899_Digital_Scent_Technology-A_Critical_Overview
PSYCHOLOGY
https://www.glossy.co/beauty/fragrance-brands-accelerate-digital-to-address-customer-behavior-changes/