MOBILE PHONES ALREADY provide much in the way of audio and visual stimulation, with increasingly irritating ringtones and TV streamed directly to the tiny screen, but now one company is about to add smell to the cell phone experience.

NTT Communications said in a statement yesterday that next week they will begin testing what can only be described as a smellphone, which lets people send fragrances to each other through their mobiles. Apparently, users will be able to choose a selected fragrance from a list, and the “recipe” for that fragrance will then be sent via the phone’s infra red to a “fragrance device”, where the smell can be quickly concocted and emitted. These fragrance devices aren’t only designed for use between phones. They can also be fitted elsewhere, allowing a person to remotely control the smell of their home or car, for example.

The new technology, which NTT calls "kaori tsushin," has been in the works since 2004, and was originally meant “to enhance indoor environments” with fragrance and for use in “aroma advertising” where digital signs emit smells (“smell our stinky cheese…and then go and buy it!”).

But with smells on cells, NTT hopes it can bring olfactory interaction to a whole new level. Consider yourself a bit of a smell guru? Well, if the scents provided on NTT’s list aren’t good enough, the company will allow users the chance to blend their own, and then share it as part of a scent playlist. Just please go easy on the old spice and moldy smelling socks.

NTT says its new technology will push multimedia that one step further, making mobile interaction even more personal. As an example, sending virtual flowers to a loved one could now be accompanied by the sweet smell of roses, or perhaps, less romantically, “look what the baby managed to produce in its nappy this morning, honey”. µ

L’Inq
NTT press release