More Smells from France

The first pioneering steps have been taken in France to add one of the most emotive of the five senses – the sense of smell – to desktop PCs.

 

Life and art already jostle for our attention through myriad Internet sites, DVDs and video games with often richly layered, high-definition images and videos.

 

Now, following the efforts of an engineer from his offices on an industrial estate in the picturesque northern French port of Saint-Malo, we may soon be able to smell the action, too.

 

“The French are ahead of the rest of the world in olfactory multimedia, probably thanks to our traditions in gastronomy and perfumes,” said Yvan Regeard, 33, who has just launched the first company of its kind in the country.

 

“Unlike images or sound, smells can trigger previously forgotten memories and emotions. 

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Regeard, an engineer at France Telecom who has been given leave of absence to get his project off the ground, demonstrates his multimedia version of the Proust experience by inviting his visitors on a fragrant journey through the timeless vineyards of Burgundy.

 

A couple of clicks on the mouse on a portable computer connected to two perfume dispensers, which look like small loudspeakers, and the smell of undergrowth, vanilla and wild fruit drifts into the room.

 

“My dream is that one day this will become the world standard for olfactory applications, that it will become a small cog in the Windows system,” he said.

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After just two months he has already achieved a 20,000 euros turnover and is shortly due to travel to Japan to sign a deal with a catering school interested in posting its recipes on Internet complete with the aromas of cooking.

 

“What we offer is software which makes it possible to introduce a smell into the multimedia application, and a back-up service,” said Regeard.