14 DAY TRIAL // Smells are considered by many to be the fifth dimension that can be added to media, but we're still a way off from aromatic cinemas and TVs. That doesn't mean the idea can't be used for other things though, like texts.
Harvard Professor David Edwards and two of his design students, Rachel Field and Amy Yin, have invented a device called oPhone.
Said device is essentially a rod-like scent emitter that connects to your smartphone via Bluetooth and sends scents over text messages or e-mails.
If the one you're messaging happens to have an oPhone of his or her own, it will produce the odor once the message is received or read. Assuming they're near the device when they look at the text.
The odor is sent as “oNotes” and, in addition to text messages or e-mails, can take the form of a tweet as well.
The team had to deconstruct the scents first, before they were able to do anything else. Coffee and citrus flavors, among other things, were analyzed.
That done, they arranged molecules in certain orders and ratios, creating aromatic profiles. It is based on those profiles that an iPhone can produce the scent you send.
The newcomer has specially designed oChips that translate the profiles into smells, creating thousands of different ones.
The cloud emitted has a diameter of 15 inches or so (381 mm) and lingers for 20 to 30 seconds.
David Edwards and two of his design students, Rachel Field and Amy Yin have established Vapor Communications operating out of Le Laboratoire (Le Lab) in Paris.
They aren't ready to market the oPhone yet, but a beta version should be ready by the end of the year, with a wider release set for 2015. Coffee aficionados and perfume manufacturers will be the first set of customers targeted.