New ‘Scentee’ app sends scents through your smartphone

Tired of ramen but too poor for a steak dinner? There’s an app for that. Working from the premise that scent influences the sensation of taste while eating, Tokyo-based company ChatPerf has just released a new app, called Scentee, that releases odors such as beef ribs and buttered potato through a scent cartridge that plugs into the stereo jack of smartphones. Now, users with Scentee can theoretically trick their taste buds into thing that their unappetizing bowl of cold noodles is actually a luxurious meal.

 
Seen in Japan since May of this year during its prototype stages, the app is now available for Apple iPads and iPhones as well as some Android smartphones. An extension of ChatPerf’s “Smell-o-Vision,” a program that makes it possible for scents to emit from inanimate objects like a TV set, the Scentee device itself is priced at $35, while each scent cartridge costs $5. Currently, 12 different odors are available, ranging from strawberry and jasmine to corn soup and curry. ChatPerf’s advertisement for the device shows app users reheating a bland bowl of rice, while Scentee releases the odor of sizzling meat.

 Scentee app for iPhone and iPad
Users of Scentee would fit a liquid scent cartridge into the device, which is then dispersed into the air at the command of the mobile app. Each cartridge includes enough scent for a 100 sprays. Aside from influencing the taste of food, the app can also release a favorite aroma upon receiving a text message—for example giving off the scent of roses when your smartphone receives a text from your spouse or significant other.

 
ChatPerf developers are optimistic for future uses of the app outside of changing the taste of food, with possible uses including sending a smell to a friend who also has Scentee attached to his or her phone, or helping users wake up for work with the smell of freshly ground coffee or smoky bacon rather than a beeping alarm. Developers are even talking of possible video game applications, such as sprucing up war games with the scent of gunpowder.  

For more information on Scentee, visit the ChatPerf website.

Sources Discovery.com, Dailymail, ChatPerf.com