Is it possible to send scents over the internet?

Scientists have tested the Scentronic system, which allows scents to be converted into digital data, transmitted over the internet, and recreated using another device.

Developed by researchers at Ohio State University in the USA and the Zhejiang Laboratory in China, the technology identifies scents using an electronic "nose." The artificial intelligence-based system analyzes the collected data and sends it over the internet to another device. The receiving device then releases the corresponding aromatic substances to recreate the scent.

For now, Scentronic has been trained to identify five different scents: beer, cake, coffee, orange, and red wine. This means the system cannot yet accurately and fully replicate any scent.

In experiments, participants correctly identified the scents produced by the device approximately 73 percent of the time when presented individually, and 71 percent of the time when presented as a mixture of two scents.

Experts suggest that in the future, this technology could be used in virtual and augmented reality systems, for remotely evaluating product scents in online stores, and in medical examinations.

Nevertheless, Scentronic is currently a prototype in the scientific research stage. To be widely used in everyday life, it is necessary to improve its capabilities to identify more scents, distinguish complex mixtures of scents, and recreate them more accurately.