Smell-o-vision is here! 9 May 2008

DVice reports that Japanese mobile phone operator NTT Docomo recently tested what it calls "Mobile Fragrance Communication" (or "Kaori Tsushin Mobile"). It works like so: You use your phone to download a "Fragrance Playlist" (i.e. set of "recipes" for specific fragrances that are packaged together with pictures/animations and audio content) from NTT's website. Using the phone's infrared port, the fragrance data is then transferred to a device that has been loaded with a cartridge of essences, or base fragrances. The device (the chunky-looking vase-type thingy pictured above), then mixes these base fragrances to create the specific smells outlined in the Fragrance Playlist and emits them, while the user enjoys the audio-visual content that's playing on their phone in tandem.