Gizmodo Australia » smell

Scent Text Messaging Patented: Get Ready to Smell Farts from 3,000 Miles Away

Adam Frucci — Thu, 01 May 2008 16:45:00 +0000

Uh oh. A couple of companies in Germany have patented technology that enables sending scented text messages between phones. You know what this means: bring on the fart messages.

Actually, the way the system will work is by triggering one of 100 pre-defined scents on a chip in the phone, which seems less exciting and precise than what people would want to use it for. Yeah, being able to send a generic watermelon scent to someone is cool, I guess, but what if you want to send the specific scent of a dish you’re eating to someone? Or, you know, a fart you’re particularly proud of? It’s a nice thought, guys, but until you figure out how to get the subtleties of my farts expressed with a proper amount of nuance, I’m not interested.

Now, just because I can, here’s my favourite comedy sketch relating to farting, from the classic Mr. Show.

[The Local via Slashdot]

Aroma Waker Early Morning Scratch ‘n’ Sniff Technology

Gizmodo US Edition — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 12:22:38 +0000

Aroma Waker is a not-so-cunningly-named alarm clock that wakes you by emitting aromatherapy scents at a preset time. Its actually got two heated scent pots, so you can have a second dose of smells later in the day— perhaps to remind you it’s lunchtime, to feed the cat, or a “warm welcome from a hard day’s work” as designers Abiogenesis suggest. So, fragrant Giz readers, how would you like your olfactory glands to be aroused this morning?

The Aroma Waker is just a design concept, sadly, but a prototype is showing at the Wellcome Trust Sleeping and Dreaming exhibition in London until March 10th. [Abiogenesis via Yanko design]

Kumho’s Lavender-Scented Tires Go By the Name of Ecsta DX; Probably Answer to the Name ‘Pointless’

Addy Dugdale — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 09:34:11 +0000

Apparently, Kumho’s skid ‘n’ sniff tires are going out to the “trend-setting, fashion-conscious drivers” who want their cars to rock something that no one else has: the sweet smell of lavender. Now then, while I wholeheartedly applaud Kumho’s decision to bring something so unique to wheelwear, I question the choice of fragrance. Surely “Eau de Roadkill” or “Rocker’s Crotch” would have been more marketable than the scent most associated with a slightly incontinent old queen who thrilled millions during her lifetime—no, not Liberace, I’m talking about Britain’s late, lamented Queen Mother. Full blurb from Tire Rack’s product page is below.

The Ecsta DX Aroma is Kumho’s Grand Touring All-Season tire designed for trend-setting, fashion-conscious drivers who enjoy products that will set their luxury coupes and sedans apart from everyone else’s. In addition to delivering an alluring aroma that replaces a tire’s normal “rubber” smell with the subtle scent of fresh lavender, the Ecsta DX Aroma is designed to deliver a comfortable ride and low noise, while blending good wear with dry, wet and year-round traction, even in light snow.
Using a special mixing technology to blend the synthetic oils that provide the fragrant scent into the rubber compound, these heat-resistant oils are said to enhance the bonding of rubber chains and maximize the viscoelasticity of the rubber compound, which helps reduce braking distances on wet or dry roads. The Ecsta DX Aroma compound also features silica to improve all-weather performance and wet traction.

This unique compound is molded into a sophisticated directional tread design that features a continuous center rib for constant road contact to enhance highway stability, along with tread blocks designed to provide uniform stiffness to maintain ride comfort throughout the life of the tire. The tread blocks also feature an optimized pitch sequence resulting in variable pitch lengths to help minimize noise, while four wide circumferential and numerous sweeping intermediate grooves help evacuate water reducing the risk of hydroplaning. The tire’s structure includes high-tensile steel belts and a jointless nylon cap ply to help improve ride comfort and durability, while an undertread reduces unwanted heat buildup for consistent performance.

NOTE: The lavender scent lasts approximately 1 year and while always present, is most noticeable immediately after normal driving when the tires are warm.

The Ecsta DX tires cost US$81 each, all the self-esteem you ever had and a lilac-coloured paintjob on your muscle car. [Tire Rack via Tips—thanks, Wikkit]

Good-Bye Foot Raunch, Helloooo Minty Freshness!

Wilson Rothman — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 14:48:43 +0000

Thanks to a new springy plastic insert for shoes, Japanese people will be spared the embarrassment of letting their foot smells waft through public places. Instead, they will experience the embarrassment of adding a strange breath of mint to every establishment where they are required to de-shoe. At every step, the insert pumps out a small dose of mint essence, replacing—and hopefully not just mixing noxiously with—your natural, potentially horrible foot odour. It’s a hell of a trade-off. Would you use it? [Reuters]

Smellivision Ads, Coming to Billboards

Mark Wilson — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 14:53:53 +0000

The prospect of smellivision has intrigued Man since he was enjoying the earthy scent of dinosaur cooking over an open flame, wishing He could exploit its musk to sell more dinoburgers. At long last, NTT Communications is incorporating smells into their digital signs. Using one billboard (OK, LCD display) as an experiment this month, visitors of the Tokyo JR train line will get to see beer and smell delicious oranges.

No, it’s not what we had in mind either. The sign’s smells will change throughout the day, emitting lemon in the afternoon and “woody” aromas at night. The bottles of chemicals are used in various recipes to create the smells, which are ultrasonically sprayed across a 5,400 square foot area. The sign can gather updated scents through an auto web download. And for the ambitious hacker, we’re guessing some nasty pranks could be programmed for unintentional public consumption. [press release via pinktentacle]

Feet-On with the Shoe Pure 100 (Verdict: It Works Great)

Jesus Diaz — Thu, 06 Sep 2007 10:00:28 +0000

Fulfilling a lifelong dream, we tried the eggciting Shoe Pure 100 at IFA 2007, where a gazillion Germans with smelly shoes passed by —sadly without using it. We didn’t have enough time to try the full power of this ozone-generating germ and smell destroyer from Japan, but we definitely noticed the difference in barely five minutes.

The results were quite stunning. My boots were definitely smelly after a lot of walking through Berlin and IFA. After getting a whiff, Addy agreed that they were a perfect subject to test the alleged power of the Shoe Pure 100, which claims to eliminate all stench and bacteria from your shoes using an ozone generator—the blue is just a light because in Japan the blue glow means clean.

We put the boots on the Shoe Pure’s specially shaped arms and waited for about five minutes. We couldn’t stay long enough to wait until the job was completely done but the changes were immediate: The smell was gone, replaced by an odorless freshness.

Even Mark, who ventured that the $US68 price tag was too steep when he first told you about it agreed—but only after forcing him to smell the results, which he did with a horror look in his face. [ShowPure]

Smelly E-Books for College Students

Gizmodo US Edition — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 11:20:04 +0000

Apparently 43% of college students identify smell as the thing they most love about books. CafÃ©Scribe have taken this odd statistic and run with it, creating the world’s first smelly e-book. Starting in September the company will send every e-book purchaser a sticker to put on their laptop that has an ‘old book’ smell. Of course, college students are fully backwards-compatible with real books. [CafeScribe]

USB Air Freshener

Seamus Byrne — Mon, 30 Jul 2007 22:46:17 +0000

Geek’s who eat geek food, like that super-pizza from last week, and who are too busy at their terminals to shower, could likely make use of this USB aroma oil heater. Green comes with peppermint oil, and red comes with rose. At $7, only a little more costly than a can of lysol.
[USBGeek via TechnaBob]

Google Odur Will Search for Soulmates

Seamus Byrne — Sun, 15 Jul 2007 17:53:00 +0000

Trouble with the ladies? Well it’s not for your lack of trying, I’m quite certain. Women who aren’t interested in World of Warcraft can’t be worth your time anyway. Still, if the constant pang of rejection is starting to takes its toll and you need a hand, look no further, Google Eau de Toilette will have you sorted.

It is guaranteed to make you more appealing than Brad Pitt dosed in pheromones at a fantasy, panty pillow-fight party. If you had problems with women in the first instance your sure to have them after too; fending off the horny hoards of scantily clad, busty babes won’t be easy. Get your bottle now! That is, er, if you can find any… [Random Good Stuff]

Avocado Phone Smells Your Food, Tells You to Eat More Vegetables

Seamus Byrne — Tue, 29 May 2007 19:41:38 +0000

There are a few things weird about this phone. First, if we were to design a cellphone to smell foods and keep track of your diet, we probably wouldn’t design it like an avocado. Second, on the off chance that we were to design it like an avocado, we probably wouldn’t make it an avocado with a bite taken out of it. But that’s just us.

The idea itself—keeping track of what types of foods you’ve eaten by its chemical signature and telling you what foods you’re lacking—is pretty sound. Why not just integrate it into a regular-looking phone? – Jason Chen

Health Conscious Tracking Phone [Yanko Design via Sci Fi]