The Fun Future of Fragrances

The simple fact that you are reading this post means that you are probably interested in aromatherapy and already know a bit about fragrances and how they can enhance your life. However, I am here to tell you that the future of scents and fragrances is one that is far out, and in many ways, a blast from the past.

If you are older than 40 or so, you may remember your folks talking about smell-o-vision, which was actually only used with a single film, Scent of Mystery. The smell-o-vision of that year, 1960, dispersed 30 different fragrances into the the theater at different times to work in conjunction with the soundtrack to get the audience members to feel as if they were really in the movie.

Sadly though, in the 50 plus years since then, smell-o-vision has largely died. Sure there is a amazing Soarin' Over California amusement ride in Disney’s California Adventure Park next to the original Disney Land that makes fantastic use of fragrances as ride goers virtually ride hang gliders over the Golden State’s orange orchards, rocky coasts, and forested mountains.     

But, the current scent drought may be coming to an end. There are signs on the horizon that the creative use of fragrances may be coming to our everyday lives. Scentee, a smartphone app, works with a scent cartridge to dispense scents that can help dieters better enjoy their meager eatings. While dining on his, say, rice cakes and tuna, a dieter can have his phone produce the smells that come along with steak, buttered baked potatoes, and so forth. Scentee also offers bacon and coffee scents.

Meanwhile, researchers out of the University of California, San Diego and Samsung Advanced Institute of Technology (SAIT) in Japan have teamed up to create a smell-o-vision technology that will work in our homes. If it works as projected, this new fragrance dispenser will be a small device that connects to our home theater systems to bring us smells that relate to what our eyes and ears are taking in. While I think this is a tremendous idea and one I’ll probably adopt at some point, I know for sure I won’t be watching any of Mike Rowe’s programs with it.