Scents that are sent: oPhone delivers aromas

February 12, 2014 by Dennis Walikainen
Scents that are sent: oPhone delivers aromas
Sending scents is closer than you think.

Say you forgot about Valentine's Day, and it's too late to send that certain someone some roses. Someday, you'll at least be able to send their scent.


It can be sent via email, tweet, or text.


"We invite young students to bring their design dreams," he says. "We have a different theme each year, and that year it was virtual worlds."

The all-female team came up with virtual aromas, and he brought two of the students to Paris to work on the project. Normally, he says, there's a clear end in sight, but with their project no one had a clue  who was going to pay for the research or  if there was even a market.


So, how does the scent technology work?

"We create unique aromatic profiles," says Blake Armstrong, director of business communications at Vapor Communications, an organization operating out of Le Laboratorie (Le Lab) in Paris. "We put that into the oChip that faithfully renders that smell."

Edwards said that the initial four chips that will come with the first oPhones can be combined into thousands different odors—produced for 20 to 30 seconds—creating what he calls "an evolution of odor."

The secret is in accurate scent reproduction, locked in those chips plugged into the devices. Odors are first captured in wax after they are perfected using "The Nose"— an aroma expert at Le Lab, Marlène Staiger—who deconstructs the scents.

For example, with coffee, "the most universally recognized aroma," she replaces words like "citrus" or "berry" with actual scents that will be created by ordering molecules and combining them in different percentages.


"Imagine you are online and want to know what a particular brand of coffee would smell like," Edwards says. "Or, you are in an actual long line waiting to order. You just tap on the oNote and get the experience."


And there other sectors that could benefit, Edwards says.

"Fragrance houses, of course, culinary, travel, but also healthcare."


"We think there could be help for Alzheimer's patients, related to the decline and loss of memory and olfactory sensation," he says.


"Anton Pintar [professor emeritus] was my greatest mentor," Edwards says. "I was an unmotivated student until I took an applied math class with him, and he helped me get into grad school."

"I'm definitely applying all that math now!"

Improvements are already planned for an end-of-year Beta release of the -transmitting phone to a limited audience. They'll be seeking feedback before a broader release in 2015. The oPhone will eventually be smaller, "more intimate," according to Armstrong.

Form and function are both important to the oPhone, Armstrong says. And there's something more.

"At the end or the day, it helps open up your life to share," Armstrong says. "You can share your world and how you experience it with someone special."

Explore further: Is that a risotto in your pocket? The app that smells like dinner

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