What was once thought was possible only in science fiction, smell-o-vision TVs have finally become a reality.
A Japanese team at the Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology has unveiled a smelling screen that lets out aromas of various types depending on the kind of object that is on display on the screen. It makes use of sublimating gel pellets into air streams and the fed odors are directed from specific spots on the screen. The smelling screen was unveiled at the IEEE Virtual Reality Conference in Orlando, Florida.
The new technology could have significant implications for the ad industry. Imagine being able to advertise your cookies or cup cakes on the TV with the aroma wafting from the screen! Or you could also think about other possibilities like perfumes, colognes, herbs, spices, and just about anything that titillates our olfactory senses. The gel pellets let out four streams of odors from each corner of the screen.
All that you would need to do is go ahead and smell the screen in order to experience the smell of the objects being displayed on the screen. This could probably be one of the coolest ways to interact with a product that is being shown on the TV. I can also imagine a day when specific video games and movies are created using the smelling screen through which users can not only interact visually and auditorily but also olfactorily.
It could mean really big for those in the industry and the future seems to be vested in technologies such as this one. You might also want to take a look at the Transparent Touchscreen Vending Machine we had featured sometime ago. The Xbox 360 with an LCD Screen again tells us that a lot can be done if only a person is creative and innovate enough.
