Smell Recorder ... I Smell a Rat

Actually, I don't, but I still wonder ... what exactly would this be used for?

The new device, developed by scientists at the Tokyo Institute of Technology, analyzes smells through 15 sensors, records the odor's recipe in digital format and then reproduces the scent by mixing 96 chemicals and vaporizing the result.

Creator Takamichi Nakamoto says the technology will have applications in food and fragrance industries where companies want to replicate odors. But it could also be a boon for the digital world, allowing smells can be recorded in one place — by sensors in a mobile phone, for instance — and transmitted to appreciative noses halfway around the world. Source: AP via Yahoo! News

OK, after reading his suggestions for uses ... which included being able to record and play back perfume smells, I thought ... well, maybe. But that's a long way off. I could see this maybe if it could be part of your PC ... you know, for shopping on the Web. But the thing is currently 1 meter by 3 feet by 2 feet. Waaay too big. Plus, for some reason, I doubt it would pass a real test ... if it could fool a dog, which has 25x the sensory receptors a human has ... well, then we'd be talking real accuracy.

My wife says this device could have some real fans in men. I mean, she said, men have a tendency to be really proud of their ... er, flatulence, and this could be a way to record it for posterity!

Tags: gadgets, odors