Something smells different as scientists send aromas over the internet

Key Points:

• Researchers at The Ohio State University and Zhejiang Laboratory have developed a fully automated, hands-free system that transmits smells over the internet using an AI e-nose and a wearable receiver called Scentronic.
• The system identifies and sends digital scent data for everyday odors like coffee, beer, red wine, cake, and orange, with volunteers correctly recognizing individual scents about 73% of the time and paired scents around 71%.
• The scent transmission responds quickly, within 0.6 seconds for simple odors, though more complex smells take longer to classify, and the researchers also created a prototype cup that dispenses both scents and flavored liquids controlled via mixed-reality headsets.
• Despite promising results, the technology currently classifies odors at a category level without full chemical precision, and further testing is needed to evaluate its performance in real-world settings beyond controlled lab conditions.