US Patent and Trademark Office Google has filed a patent for a web-connected air freshener to emit a fragrance to mask offending odors caused by physical activity. It plugs in to your social network to help steer you clear of any friends who might be in the vicinity (just in case the fragrance wasn't strong enough, apparently). "When a user is wearing the fragrance emission device and begins to exert himself or herself, an activity module within the device may detect the physical exertion," reads the patent, colorfully titled Patent No. However, to avoid subjecting the social contacts to the odor, the device may include a route-suggesting portion that can notify the user that his contacts are in the area.
– Google is considering what might be termed a digital deodorant. The company has obtained a patent for a device that would counteract your own BO and even keep you away from friends when you're at your smelliest, the New York Daily News reports. The "odor removing device," as the patent terms it, would theoretically note when you're giving off an odor or exerting yourself; it could then send out a pleasant fragrance to cover up your own. It could also be linked to your social networks so that it could determine whether any friends were nearby; that way, you could steer around them to minimize embarrassment. It could even potentially point you in the right direction, CNET reports: The "fragrance emission device" might offer, in the patent's words, "an alternate route for the user to take to increase the chances of avoiding an unpleasant odorous meeting with his social contacts." The thing would look a bit like a portable fan, the Daily News notes, and it would attach to your collar or the waistline of your clothes. The patent application was made in 2012 and granted this week, but an application doesn't mean Google will actually go forward with the product, the Daily News observes. If it does, perhaps the gadgetry will reduce the 20% of men who don't use deodorant.