Pop-Sci Core77 Design Challenge/ Description MEMORY 7/16/03

Description of Design

IntelliScent Have you ever smelled an aroma that brought you back to your childhood or reminded you of a loved one? IntelliScent is a product geared towards exploiting senses other than the predominant visual or auditory senses in the area of memory storage, feedback and sharing. This product allows the user to capture memories in the form of smell and use the sense for recalling memories and emotions. Smell is an emotion-based sense that allows many people to remember events and people who have affected their lives Smell perception occurs when airborne gaseous molecules contact membranes in the nasal passage, which are rich in odor receptors. Solids and liquids produce gases, which we perceive as smells. IntelliScent captures these gases with the use of smell absorbing materials and transforms the physical data to a digital format where it can be stored, used and shared. Captured scents are then reproduced by mixing chemicals that create the desired smell. To record scents the user places the product near the source of the scent and presses the record button. The LCD display then notifies the user that the scent has been recorded. To release the scent the user can use the up and down buttons to select which scent they want and then press the "play" button to release the scent. When they are finished they press the "stop" button. Scents can also be transferred to computers via a USB port.