Soon You'll Be Able to Smell Selfies

Thanks to the invention of the oPhone DUO, soon you will be able to smell that Instagram pic of your friend's freshly baked batch of cookies. The oPhone device works in combination with an iPhone app called oSnap to allow users to receive electronic aroma messages. There are over 300,000 scent combinations to choose from in the oPhone's "aromatic vocabulary." The product has gained attention and support on the crowd funding site IndieGogo.

So, how does an app release scents? This technology is thanks to the invention of the oChip. Eight oChips fit inside the oPhone and contain four different scents each. The oSnap app allows users to send the scents of chocolate, espresso, orange and more. The scents work for hundreds of uses and then run out similar to the ink cartridge in a printer. Once they run out of scent, you must replace the oChips. IndieGogo explains, "Using oSnap with oPhone is like using an aroma palette with a paintbrush and canvas. You will want to try your hand at it, or as we say, 'aroma doodle.'"

On IndieGogo, the oPhone DUO package to get you started is available for $149. The product comes with one oPhone DUO, one pack of Foodie I.D oChips and one pack of Base Notes oChips. The inventors believe that the oPhone will appeal to foodies who love to share their food on social media. Since scent is such a huge part of memory, it was only a matter of time that someone would invent scent-based mobile messaging technology.

The product is the brain child of Professor David Edwards, who teaches a class at Harvard called "How to Create Things and Have Them Matter," along with his former student Rachel Field, an undergrad who was studying mechanical engineering. Professor Edwards encouraged Rachel and her classmates to explore the world of scent and then the idea evolved after a summer in Paris, according to IndieGogo.

The product is set to launch in April 2015. Do you plan to send smells to your friends?

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