
Ask HN: How would you transmit smell over the web? - __ka
Please elaborate on the technical details of your solution and limitations to your approach (e.g. device size).
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lioeters
Purely speculating with no technical background..

On the sender side, there would need to be a "smell microphone" to inhale and
encode smells based on chemical properties. The data can be transmitted over
HTTP or another transfer protocol.

On the receiver side, there would be a "smell speaker" (and maybe amplifier)
that decodes and exhales the smell.

I can imagine various technical challenges on both ends, specifically chemical
analysis and synthesis on a small enough scale to be practical.

EDIT: This page has a history of such attempts, most recently Aromajoin with
"the first wearable scent device" in 2016.

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_scent_technology](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_scent_technology)

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LinuxBender
I don't have a design, but I chime in on everything. I would suggest that your
device should be compatible with existing VR headset gear and not too bulky.
Maybe partner with Valve for the network access to allow gamers and game
developers to integrate with it easily. There must be an open standard that
some of this gear uses.

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rgovostes
[https://www.wired.com/1999/11/digiscent/](https://www.wired.com/1999/11/digiscent/)
(Note the date.)

~~~
__ka
Very interesting.

> The iSmell failed to get the interest of the public. When looking at what
> went wrong for the iSmell, it is revealed that the missing link was a market
> survey. According to Startupover’s Andrea Dusi, the iSmell “was definitely a
> nice idea, but not a useful one”. DigiScents has shut down due to a lack of
> funding, although it still “continues to license its technology and is
> looking for funding for a relaunch. [1]

I wonder if with virtual reality, something like this will pick up.

[1]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISmell](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISmell)

