Holiday albums could be less forgettable when pictures of a Mediterranean meal carry the scent of olives ; a selfie on the beach contains a trace of salt spray or a rainy London scene conveys the distinctive aroma of freshly wet concrete . If the digital age has increased the volume of communication , it may not have improved the quality . Reversing that trend is the goal of a new generation of sensory engineers who are going beyond sight and sound to produce devices that use our untapped faculties . Perhaps the most exciting breakthroughs right now are arriving in the form of smell-centered communication . `` Our motto is 'aroma tells a thousand pictures ' '' , says Dr. David Edwards , biomedical engineer at Harvard and founder of Le Laboratoire , known for producing radical sensory devices such as calorie-free chocolate spray . Every human has thousands of distinct smell sensors , Edwards explains , a resource he taps with his newest invention the oPhone . Read more : Wireless electricity ? It 's here . Set for a beta launch in July , this phone offers the most sophisticated smell messaging yet created . In collaboration with Paris perfumers Givaudan and baristas Café Coutume , Edwards has created a menu of scents , contained in 'Ochips ' . MIT electrical engineer Eyal Shahar designed containers for them that release when heated by the touch of a button , but cool quickly to keep smells distinct and localized , a historic difficulty with the much-mocked smell-o-vision experiments in cinema . Mix and match . The oPhone user can mix and match aromas and then send their composition as a message , which will be recreated on a fellow user 's device . Up to 356 combinations will be possible in the first wave , rising to several thousand in the next year , and the dream is an exhaustive base -- the 'universal chip ' . `` Biologically we respond powerfully to aroma , so if we become familiar with the design of aromatic communication we might be able to say things we could n't before '' , says Edwards . He sees the limited aromas of the oPhone as the first letters of a rich new language , that may be used as a basis for novels and symphonies . The faith is grounded on the acknowledged influence of smell on the subconscious , and the potential to learn its secrets . The first oPhones will be limited to a select community of coffee enthusiasts . But the launch on July 10 will be accompanied by a more inclusive product : the first olfactory social network . A free app will allow anyone to compose and send a smell note by text or email , based on a set menu of aromas and variations . The message can be received by any normal phone as a text . The recipient can then download the composition from hotspots which will be set up in the launch city of Boston . `` We 're expecting an interest in self-expression and we 're ready to learn with the public '' , says Edwards . `` We would like to be reactive as new ideas for aromatic vocabularies arise , and to continue providing them for new interests . '' Read more : How to mend your body with silk . He is betting the public around Boston 's famous technology centers are early adopters , and will take the concept forward . Beyond the city , the network will include a public interface for people to trade tips and recipes , and store them in cloud software . Edwards plans to feature 'smell emoticons ' and viral stunts , and may offer a mixing deck that allows overlap with music production software . The concept can benefit from saturation of the current communication market , says trend analyst and editor of 'Green Futures ' Anna Simpson . `` We 're reaching a limit with what we can do with text data , and there is the potential to connect more deeply and personally through smell . '' Simpson also believes a consumer shift toward experience could drive adoption . `` There is growing interest from brands in resources for creating richer experiences . Smelly start-ups . Giants such as Olympus are publishing research , but for now start-ups are taking the initiative . Singapore 's Mixed Reality Lab has been prolific in this space , engineering Japanese device Scentee that allows users to send a single fragrance between them . The company released an app worldwide in February , and has lucrative partnerships such as with Mugaritz restaurant in Spain , that allows for online cooking tutorials with leading chefs to give students a whiff of the smell they are aiming for . Read more : 'The night I invented 3D printing ' `` Right now it 's the equivalent of music before mp3s , when you had to record a song on a tape and physically give it someone '' , says Dr. Adrian Cheok , founder of the Mixed Reality Lab and professor of pervasive technology at City University , London . `` We can send a basic scent through a device like Scentee , but we need the framework to make millions of them available through digitization . '' Cheok is testing a device that would connect us directly to the Internet , inspired by the successful connection of optical fibres to neurons of mice . His lab experiments involve subjects wearing a mouthguard-like device containing magnetic coils , from which electric signals are directed into the olfactory bowl to simulate the effect of smell . The wearer 's brains are scanned before and after to pinpoint the effect , and the results have encouraged Cheok enough to believe a prototype could be available in two years . A similar technique has already born fruit with a similar design simulating the effects of taste . But taste has just four primary forms -- bitter , sweet , salty , sour -- whereas smell involves identifying individual molecules with no primary form . `` The most basic smell still has hundreds of molecules and you need analytical chemistry to see what 's there '' , says Dr. Joel Mainland of the Monell Chemical Senses Center . `` Perhaps only 5 % would have an impact on smell , so it 's difficult to pick them out . It 's more trial and error than quantitative science . '' Healthy aroma . Monell are also pursuing the goal of digitizing olfaction , with healthcare applications high on the agenda . One of their research areas is seeking smell biomarkers in cancer patients , using an ' e-nose ' to hunt chemicals in the blood to deliver early diagnosis . The process was inspired by the ability of dogs to sense sickness , although their smelling ability is multiples higher . Although this research is still young in the lab , similar technology is already being smartphone-enabled . A NASA-developed chemical sensor has been released to a commercial partner as the basis for mobile applications that could breath-test users . UK Nanotechnology company Owlstone are raising several million dollars in venture capital for a handheld sensor that that could detect a wider range of diseases . Medical uses are high on the agenda for the burgeoning Digital Olfaction Society , whose upcoming conference will discuss olfaction technology for identifying dangerous gases , guidance for the blind and cognitive aid for Alzheimer 's sufferers . But industries as varied as military , travel , jewellery , food and entertainment will also be represented . Dr. Cheok believes the ultimate direction of goal is a multi-sensory device unifying all five senses to create an immersive virtual reality , and could be usable within five years . 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Sensory engineers developed oPhone , a device that enables smell messaging . A free app will soon allow anyone to compose and send a smell note . Comment: