Digital Taste and Smell Communication

In this paper, we introduce a new technology, which allows people to share taste and smell sensations digitally with a remote person through existing networking technologies such as the Internet. By introducing this technology, we expect people to share their smell and taste experiences with their family and friends remotely. Sharing these senses are immensely beneficial since those are strongly associated with individual memories, emotions, and everyday experiences. As the initial step, we developed a control system, an actuator, which could digitally stimulate the sense of taste remotely. The system uses two approaches to stimulate taste sensations digitally: the electrical and thermal stimulations on tongue. Primary results suggested that sourness and saltiness are the main sensations that could be evoked through this device. Furthermore, this paper focuses on future aspects of such technology for remote smell actuation followed by applications and possibilities for further developments.