The internet of the future will allow the digital transfer of
smells over a broadband connection, according to a survey of 3,500
South Korean technology experts.
The study was carried out by the country's Ministry of Information
and Communication, said the Korea
Times.
Scents could be transformed into digital information and then sent
over a broadband connection, where a special device at the user's
end will decode the data and translate it back into a smell.
Ministry director general Ryoo Pill-gye suggested that the
technology could be used to promote goods such as perfumes.
Companies in South Korea claim to have been working on the
technology for digitising and transferring smells over the internet
since 2000.
Other technologies predicted by the survey include tiny medical
devices that operate from within a patient's bloodstream, mobile
phones with a two-month battery life and special glasses that
capture 3D video footage.