Share fragrances via your cell phone

April 10, 2008 by Lisa Zyga

Individuals in a pilot test will experiment with downloading smells from the Internet and transferring them to fragrant devices. Cell phones can even be used to turn the devices on remotely.

Since 2005, people in Japan have been making their homes smell nice with fragrance-emitting silver devices, which emit a variety of smells for different moods. Currently, people must control the fragrances directly on the devices, which are manufactured by Fragrant Communication.

But now, a company called NTT Communications has developed a method that allows people to add new smells to their fragrance devices via their cell phones, and even control the devices remotely.

With the new service, called Mobile Fragrance Communication (Kaori Tsushin Mobile), individuals can download "Fragrance Playlists" online, and share them with friends who also subscribe to the service. Users download the fragrances, which include chamomile and peppermint, from the "i-mode" mobile Web site of NTT´s sister company NTT DoCoMo to their cell phones.

Using the phone´s infrared port, individuals can transfer the new fragrances to a fragrant device. The vase-shaped device has a cartridge of basic stored fragrances - or "essences" - which are mixed according to a recipe to produce the desired aroma. By using a feature that connects to the Internet called the Service Gateway, users can also remotely instruct the fragrance device in their home to begin operating a few minutes before they return. Plus, users can listen to audio MIDI files or watch visual GIF animations while downloading the smells on their phones.

NTT Communications is running a pilot test on the technology from today, April 10, through April 20. The company also plans to collaborate with other companies to develop additional features for the commercial version, such as ringtones, horoscopes, and the possibility for video game applications.

via: InventorSpot