While riding my bike, I happened to pass a garden with blooming jasmine flowers, and the delightful fragrance that drifted through the air immediately lifted my spirits. This encounter was rather fleeting, lasting only a few seconds, but it was sufficient to invoke feel good effect. Such occurrences are not uncommon in my life; whether it is walking by a tempting food stall, going for refuelling with distinctive petrol smell, or handling crisp new banknotes, pleasant scents have the remarkable ability to awaken positive emotions within me.
Several years ago, Google played a humorous April Fool’s prank on the public known as “Google Nose.” This prank purported to offer users the capability to search for scents, which, of course, was purely a jest. However, if such a concept were to become a reality, it could potentially revolutionize the way we engage with our environment. The power of a pleasing fragrance is an incredibly effective tool for reducing stress levels.
In a world where we are often bombarded with visual and auditory stimuli, the introduction of smell-based search technology could open up entirely new dimensions of human experience. I’m already imagining a restaurant with food delivery service which allows us to smell the food before they dispatch it.