Will Phones Be Able to Transmit Smells Soon?

In the future, video calls might not only deliver sound and visuals but also smells through your mobile phone.

Many people are now wondering if smartphones will soon be able to transmit scents, considering how they evolved from delivering sound only to text, and then to video calls that include both sound and visuals.

According to a report published by Discover Magazine and cited by Al Arabiya Net, it may be possible one day to conduct video calls where your phone transmits sound, visuals, and scents.

Jian Liu, an assistant professor of electrical engineering and computer science at the University of Tennessee, explained: “When you listen to music or talk to someone on your phone, you hear the sound through built-in speakers. These speakers convert digital signals into physical vibrations using a small component called a diaphragm, which your ears detect as sound waves.”

Liu noted that your smartphone also has a screen that displays images and videos. This screen uses tiny points called pixels made up of three primary colors: red, green, and blue. By mixing these colors in different ways, your phone can show anything from stunning beach views to adorable puppies.

As for the sense of smell, Liu explained that odors are made up of small molecules that float through the air and reach your nose, which then sends signals to your brain to identify the scent. So, can your phone send you these scent molecules? Scientists are currently working on that.

Liu likened it to how phone screens work: they don’t store every color in the world. Instead, they use just three colors to create millions of different hues and shades.

“Now imagine something similar for smells,” Liu continued. "Scientists are developing digital scent technology that uses a small number of cartridges, each containing a specific scent. Just like how pixels mix three colors to create images, these scent cartridges can be mixed to create different smells.”

He went on to explain that, just like images on your phone are made from digital codes representing pixel combinations, future phones could create scents using digital codes. Each scent would have a specific formula composed of different amounts of ingredients from the cartridges. When a digital scent code is received, your phone would mix small amounts from these cartridges to produce the desired scent.

This scent mixture would be released through a small opening in the phone, allowing you to smell it. With just a few cartridges, your phone could produce a wide variety of scents, just as red, green, and blue pixels can generate countless colors.

The Discover Magazine report highlighted that researchers and companies are already working on creating such digital scent devices. However, this technology still faces several challenges.

One challenge is designing a system capable of producing thousands of different scents using only a few cartridges. Another is figuring out how to control the strength and duration of the scent emitted from the phone. Additionally, phones would need the ability to detect nearby smells and convert them into digital codes, allowing your friends' phones to send those scents to you.