The day we have all simultaneously dreamed of and feared has finally arrived. Technology has gotten to the point where you can send a smell to your friend through your iPhone using a device called the oPhone (or so the story goes).
Developed by David Edwards, a Harvard inventor and professor, the device supposedly allows a person to take a picture of a food or object with a certain smell, and then recreate that smell by combining various options from the 32, pre-programmed base scents. The catch? The person on the receiving end of the scent has to first physically possess an oPhone, and second, have it nearby.
In an ideal world, here’s how it works:
- Take a picture of the food with your phone.
- Start up the oPhone app (called oSnap).
- Try to create the desired scent by using the pre-programmed scents.
- Send a text or email (called an oNote) to any recipient with an oPhone.
- Recipient turns on the oPhone and downloads the smellogram.
- oPhone releases the smell for the receiving person to enjoy.
Starting on June 17th, the oSnap app became available for free download on the iTunes store. On the same day, an Indiegogo campaign looking to raise $150,000 for the oPhone began.
From now until the official launch in 2015, a pair of these oPhones will set you back $149. After the official launch in 2015, though, a pair of these will cost just shy of $200 (now that is one expensive smell).
For now, I think I’ll just stick to good old-fashioned, scentless texting. Who needs to smell my boring PB&J anyways?