👃 It seems humanity has finally solved one of the greatest problems of the internet: how to brag about a delicious dinner so that friends not only see it in a photo, but also smell it! 😁
Scientists from Ohio State University and the Zhejiang Laboratory have presented an experimental technology Scentronicthat makes it possible to transmit information about smells over a distance.
The idea sounds almost like science fiction.
Imagine: you're sitting at home, chatting with a friend over a video call, while he's vacationing in Italy, drinking coffee and eating fresh pastries.
Before, you could only look at his happy face.
And now, theoretically, you'll also be able to smell his breakfast!
True, you'll still have to buy the coffee and croissant yourself. And that, perhaps, is the main drawback of the technology! 😂
☕ How does the aromatic internet work?
The principle is quite interesting.
A special device — an electronic nose — analyzes the smell using gas sensors. Then artificial intelligence determines which category the aroma belongs to.
The information is transmitted over the internet to a receiving device, which reproduces the corresponding smell using pre-prepared aromatic liquids.
That is, the molecules of coffee or orange themselves don't fly through a fiber-optic cable across the ocean.
The internet transmits information, and a special device creates the smell right on the spot.
The researchers even developed several versions of the device: a compact bracelet, a pendant, and a handheld sprayer.
For now, the system can work with five aromas: coffee, beer, red wine, pastry, and orange.
The selection, you must admit, is quite curious!
Especially if you imagine how they drew up the list.
"Which smells shall we transmit?"
"Coffee!"
"Of course."
"Orange!"
"Wonderful."
"Beer, wine, and pastry!"
"Colleagues, are we really developing a scientific technology and not organizing a Friday office party? 😂"
🔬 A genuine scientific study: 14 volunteers and an experimental cup
The most interesting thing is that this is not merely a pretty technological idea.
On 21 October 2026, the researchers published the results of their work in the scientific journal Science Advances.
The study was titled Scentronic: An artificial intelligence–assisted olfactory interface for remote odor sharing and transmission.
The team included specialists from the United States and China, among them the researcher Chunyu Yang.
The scientists created a system that independently recognizes a given smell, converts it into a digital signal, and transmits it to a playback device.
The technology was then tested on volunteers.
One of the experiments involved 14 people.
They were asked to identify the aromas that the device reproduced.
The results turned out to be curious:
- About 73% correct answers when recognizing individual smells.
- About 71% correct answers when identifying two mixed aromas.
- Approximately 0,6 seconds were required by the system to react to a simple signal from the sensor.
At the same time, the analysis of complex food odors took longer — sometimes several dozen seconds.
For an experimental technology, the results look promising, although it is still far from flawlessly transmitting any aromas.
And here the scientists went even further!
They developed an experimental cup capable of combining smells and taste sensations.
The device uses pre-prepared flavored liquids that can be added to water.
Combined with virtual and mixed reality technologies, such a cup could potentially allow a person to choose a virtual drink and receive the corresponding combination of smell and taste.
Imagine the future.
You put on VR glasses, find yourself in a virtual Parisian café, order a very expensive coffee…
And the device obediently adds the aroma to your cup.
All that remains is to hope that the virtual waiter won't demand real 15 euros for the service! 😂
However, the authors of the study emphasize: for now, the technology works only with a limited set of pre-prepared smells. It cannot accurately recreate arbitrary complex aromas and requires further testing under ordinary conditions.
But the first step toward digital olfaction has already been taken!
🍷 Video calls of the future will become much more interesting
If such technologies become widespread, the usual communication on the internet may change.
Imagine your friend calls you from Paris.
— Hi! I'm at a wonderful coffee shop right now!
— I know. You've been sending me the smell of coffee for half an hour already!
— And now try this croissant!
— Thanks. I got the smell. So when will the croissant itself be delivered? 😁
Or your friend is vacationing at a winery.
Instead of a long story about the wine's bouquet, he simply presses a button.
And you receive an aroma reminiscent of red wine.
True, if your friend overdoes it with the tasting, no technology will yet help convey your sympathy to him along with a glass of water!
🤖 And what if smells start being sent out to just anyone?
Of course, along with new possibilities, new problems will appear.
Today we suffer from intrusive advertising banners, endless messages and calls.
Now imagine advertising of the future.
You are calmly working at your computer when suddenly the room fills with the aroma of fresh pizza!
A notification appears on the screen:
“You have smelled our new pizza with cheese. Order right now!”
Five minutes later, an ad for a coffee shop arrives.
Then one from a perfume store.
And right after that — the aroma of fried bacon.
And now you're no longer working — you're sitting in the middle of a virtual restaurant courtyard, trying to figure out who turned on breakfast for you without your consent! 😂
What's especially interesting is how the security settings will look.
“Allow the site to access the microphone?”
“Allow access to the camera?”
“Allow sending you smells?”
And somewhere nearby a saving button will appear:
“Block all aromas from this sender!”
🥐 Online stores will get a new weapon
That said, the technology really could have practical value.
For example, perfume buyers may one day be able to get acquainted with fragrances remotely, without visiting a store.
Coffee lovers — to compare the smells of different varieties.
And culinary websites — to supplement photos of dishes with aromatic impressions.
Imagine a pie recipe.
Before, you looked at the photo and thought: “I wonder if it's tasty?”
And now you press a button and smell fresh baking.
True, then you discover that at home there's neither flour, nor butter, nor any desire to cook.
And the technology meant to improve the culinary experience unexpectedly boosts sales of ready-made pastries! 🤣
But especially interesting prospects are opening up for the film industry.
Perhaps one day films will be accompanied not only by image and surround sound, but also by smells.
A forest appears on the screen — you smell pine needles.
The hero walks into a bakery — it smells of bread.
The action moves to the sea — a light sea scent appears.
And then a film about zombies begins…
And at that point the audience unanimously demands that the new technology be switched off immediately! 😂
🌍 The fragrant internet is only just beginning
Of course, Scentronic is still far from mass adoption.
It requires special devices, sets of aromatic substances and sufficiently precise methods of recognizing smells.
What's more, the human sense of smell is far more complex than it might seem.
Different people perceive the same aroma differently. Sensations are influenced by individual sensitivity, habits, the surrounding environment and even one's state of health.
But the scientific significance of the research goes beyond entertainment.
In the future, such systems could be useful for studying the sense of smell, medical testing, virtual reality and creating more realistic digital experiences.
And who knows — perhaps in a few years we'll be amazed at how we ever communicated without smells!
For now, imagine the first family message of a new generation.
A mother writes to her son:
“I've made borscht. Come over!”
The son replies:
“Mom, thanks, I got the smell! Very tasty!”
The mother:
“Now come over and eat the real thing. I didn't open an aromatic laboratory for you!” 😂❤️
And yet this invention has one problem that scientists have yet to solve.
They are already learning to transmit the smell of fresh coffee. But transmitting the coffee itself along with it, a hot croissant and the pleasure of breakfast — that isn't working yet!
So humanity still has something to work on.
And most importantly — let's hope that in the future the fragrant internet will get a reliable spam filter. Otherwise someone will certainly send their neighbor the smell of socks after the gym! 👃🤣
