Sweet scent of success

Digital smell technology has never quite taken off but at least one related Japanese invention is seeking resellers. Fleur Doidge finds out more

Walking the stands at the Bett education technology show this year, we could have sworn we could smell one of the large-format promotional displays; it appeared to be promoting a range of pina colada-type cocktails.

We were convinced that we could smell the pineapple juice and the coconut. Neither the marketing material on the stand nor the productions of the nearby kitchen could explain this perception.

Actually, digital scent technology is becoming available. For the IT channel, it could add value to audiovisual displays or consumer experience applications - perhaps in the leisure or hospitality market.

Visionary types have been experimenting with combining fragrance with audiovisual technology for decades. The year 1960 saw the spectacular début - followed almost immediately by the equally impressive failure - of Hans Laube's Smell-O-Vision in one US cinema.

The idea was that 30 different odours would be released into the auditorium at specific times to enhance the audience experience. What actually happened was that the scents took so long to drift around the theatre that people complained they detracted from, rather than enhanced, their viewing pleasure. So the system was more or less shelved.

Smell-O-Vision was not the first attempt at such technology; nor would it be the last. Recent years have seen several companies develop digital scent technology, with some struggling for finance - such as Israel's Scent2You - and others simply forgetting about the idea of digital scent per se, instead simply developing and marketing better technologies for propagating "analogue" fragrance.

Japanese company Scentee is one of the latter. It is offering a 17g, 1.2×1.2×1.7in plug-in accessory with apps for iOS or Android devices that releases fragrance into the environment at specific times. It is battery powered, plugs into the earphone jack and promises 100 sprays of 0.5 seconds.

Aki Yamaji, public relations spokeman at Tokyo-based Scentee, tells ChannelWeb that the product is available not only in Japan but also other countries around the globe via online purchase. Channel partners - potential resellers and distributors - are also requested to get in touch via the website.

"Because there haven't been such products within IT that enable us to enjoy the ancient-times pleasure of scents, we believe there are unlimited opportunities for Scentee in unlimited fields," Yamaji says. "This is why we are now opening this up."

Yamaji claims perfumes and fragrances can do a lot to enhance human lives. We put them on our necks, wrists, or other body parts in the morning, in the afternoon, or before going on a date, for example. There are obvious opportunities across the perfume industry.

"Of course, that's a great way to enjoy them. However, we thought there must be a new way to have such great products in our lives, maybe using current IT," he says.

New smartphones and other mobile devices come out every season yet it can be difficult to tell how different the new versions really are, he notes.

The market is enormous, and users enjoy the hearing, sight and touch sensations they receive via their mobile gadgets. However, smell is one sense that hasn't really been tapped as an opportunity.

"We use a sense of hearing when we talk on the phone, we use our sight to look at monitors, and touch to manipulate apps, but we never use our sense of smell, or taste, even with the latest smartphones," Yamaji says. "This can take our way of communication one more step."

It hasn't been plain sailing, he confirms, but the product is now ready for market, although the company will continue to look to make improvements.

"One of the most difficult challenges was to contrive the miniaturisation, while keeping the manufacturing costs low," he concludes. "Because we want users to take Scentee with them wherever they go, it must be small and light enough to be carried around, and it should also be a reasonable price."

It all sounds rather frivolous, particularly in the stern world of business IT. However, the role and function - and capabilities - of the sense of smell to enhance behaviour and performance (and vice versa) have been taken increasingly seriously by scientists in recent years.

Reuters reports that a new study in Japan has shown that citrus fragrances, for example, can perk up drowsy drivers, while peppermint scents can improve concentration. The industry ramifications of anything that can improve safety on the roads, even if only slightly, are obvious.

Several channel companies and displays market analyst Futuresource were contacted by ChannelWeb to comment on the digital scent concept, but appeared to be keeping their distance at the moment.

Ed Cook, chief executive at audiovisual integrator AVM Impact, says he is certainly aware of it, but if adopted it will be a matter of when and if the customers ask for it, most likely.

"It's not of great interest to us at the moment. Unless an opportunity became prevalent and a client requested it - which hasn't been the case thus far - it's probably not something we would add to our portfolio of offerings at this stage," Cook confirms.

Last year saw the first annual conference on digital olfaction in Berlin bring experimental psychologists, IT specialists and academicians together to explore the potential in the short, medium and longer term.

Future IT may eventually become a feast for the senses, adding scent to sound, light and colour with a view to enhancing a range of work and business environments.