'Scentronic' prototype senses a smell and recreates it far away (opens the source in a new tab)
- Ohio State researchers built an e-nose that spots a smell, then tells a small remote device to release a matching scent, at any distance.
- It knows five scents so far: beer, cake, coffee, oranges and red wine. Scent molecules do not travel online; only the odour data does.
- It is a research prototype built without a company. Mixed smells, refills, cost and safety of the mist are open questions.
- 5
- scents recognised so far
- 15 cm
- e-nose diameter
Why it matters Sight and sound already travel digitally; smell is the gap. A real product would need many more scents and reliable sensing of mixtures.
Other side Recognising a smell and recreating it are separate challenges, the lead author says. Five scents is a demo, not a library.
Source:Reuters (free to read) ↗