In video calls, we can see the other person and hear their voice. What if we could send the smell of the coffee we drink to someone miles away? The new technology developed by scientists has brought this idea one step closer to reality. Scentronic, developed by researchers at Ohio State University in the USA, is a system that detects odors, converts them into digital data and transmits this information to another device over the internet. The receiving device creates a similar scent to the scent sent by using the scented liquids it contains. The basis of the system is an electronic nose equipped with different gas sensors and an artificial intelligence model that classifies odors. Sensors detect the chemical signatures of an odor; The software analyzes this data and determines which category the odor falls into.
IT CURRENTLY RECOGNIZE FIVE SCENTS
The researchers have trained the system on five scents for now. Once the smells of coffee, cake, orange, beer and red wine are recognized, it transmits the information to the receiving device over the internet. The receiver emits a similar aroma using appropriately scented liquids. There is an important detail here: Real scent molecules are not sent over the internet. What is sent is digital information that allows the scent to be recognized and recreated elsewhere. In the study, the electronic nose classified the odors it was trained on with at least 96 percent accuracy.. However, the success of 14 volunteers in recognizing artificially created odors remained at approximately 73 percent. This shows that recognizing the smell and reproducing it as close to the real thing are different problems.
SMELLING PERFUME FROM YOUR PHONE
Technology is expected to change online shopping in the future. It may be possible to smell a perfume before purchasing it, experience the aroma of food in an online store, or send the smell of a meal being prepared to a distant relative. Prototypes of Scentronic have also been developed in the form of an armband, necklace, and handheld device. According to researchers, the system can also add a new dimension to virtual and augmented reality applications.. However, it is too early to say that mobile phones will start sending scents soon. The technology needs to be able to recognize more odors, analyze the mixture of different odors, and recreate them more accurately.
THERE ARE OBSTACLES AHEAD
Researchers underline that Scentronic is not a commercial product yet, but a prototype in the laboratory phase. Issues such as increasing scent diversity, miniaturizing devices, easy renewal of scented liquids, and cost and safety need to be resolved.. The idea of scent transfer is not new. There have been various attempts to add scent to digital environments, but these have not been able to become a widespread consumer technology.
