Check Your Scent File

We share our exquisite photographs on Instagram showing beautifully ripened fruit like rich red strawberries. Imagine if we could add another dimension of our experience through the Internet. Close your eyes. Stop and smell the strawberries. You've got smell! 

On Tuesday, the first test smells will be sent through a device called an oPhone. The company, Vapor Communications, is unveiling its aromatic messaging system.

Onotes.com is a platform for sending scent messages. Over the next year, this new communication platform will evolve to allow users to send and receive scent-infused messages and ultimately transform the way we communicate. The platform is built for the oPhone, the company's proprietary technology-designed device to generate complex aroma signals in rapid succession without lingering aromatic clouds, similar to the function of a standard telephone in its delivery of audio information.

Led by scientist and Harvard University & Wyss Institute Professor David Edwards, with co-inventor and former Harvard University student, Rachel Field, the scent-based messaging platform onotes.com will work as follows: 

• Users will obtain the mobile-messaging app oSnap in the Apple Store and download onto their iPhones for free.
• They will then be able to snap a photograph and tag any object in the photograph with a scent.
• Creation of the scent will be facilitated by a scrolling window that presents up to 32 unique scents of which users can choose from one to eight, resulting in over 300,000 combinations. 
• Users will then be able to name the scent-tagged image and send it electronically to friends.  

Upon receiving a scent-tagged oNote, users can tap the oNote and be directed to onotes.com, where they will see the image and associated scents. If users possess an iPhone, they will be able to download their aromatic messages via an oPhone and smell the scents.

IMAGINE THE POSSIBILITIES...

The wine industry could text the aroma of the pinot they are about to release in an email campaign.

Whole Foods sends you a whiff of the new fennel that just arrived in store.

The crème caramel truck on the streets of San Francisco sends you an Instagram showing a new coffee crème caramel they are serving today. Have a free sniff.

Loreal could help entice me to try their new floral perfume for an upcoming occasion via email.  

Tide could share the unpleasant scent of dirty laundry that isn’t fresh as a reminder of why you should buy their detergent.

Ben & Jerry could send me the the latest flavor combo in an online banner ad link

Imagine a distinct flavor of a porter or stout beer from a specialty brewery and you get to smell it through your phone. 

You've Got Smells

This all sounds very George Jetson to me but I am anxious to test it out. I'm a big fan of stopping and smelling the roses, now I can text you with that idea in mind. The oPhone will cost $149 for those who pre-register, and $199 next year. You buy the equivalent of ink cartridges (scent cartridges) for $20. The apps are free. Now you will have to check your inbox, your deleted file and your scent file too for message they go astray. I can see (and smell it now), spam-scented emails. 

Don't turn your nose up at this idea until you try it. 

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I wish I could send you a scent-a-gram today of pure clean water. Help me support a great organization called:  Charity: Water. Check out the work they do here. 

If you'd like to pick my marketing brain about your story, you can set up a call through Clarity at this link. All proceed are donated to Charity Water.