The teleportation of smell, a concept directly out of science fiction that sounds way too unreal, is no longer going to remain a concept. An AI startup, Osmo labs, based out of Cambridge, Massachusetts, is working on ‘Scent Teleportation’, a technology that can help transport ‘smell’ from one place to another. 

The idea of the ability to smell the lilies that grew near your childhood home from anywhere in the world and experiencing the scent of old paint and plaster while visiting the Sistine Chapel, then sharing that aroma with a loved one back home, is the concept that Osmo looks to achieve. 

How is it Possible? 

The Scent Teleportation process at Osmo embodies the vision of capturing, analysing, and replicating scents using eco-friendly molecules seamlessly. Initially, a sensor detects the scent, followed by molecular analysis by a processor. Subsequently, a specialised printer, which is roughly the size of a refrigerator, combines scents to recreate the aroma accurately. This process allows scents from distant places, like a lavender field in California, to reach a New York lab.

While they can already achieve this for numerous scents, the current process involves manual intervention at each step. Their solution involves containing the scent for capture, analysing it using a Gas Chromatograph Mass Spectrometer (GC/MS), and employing Osmo’s AI and scent map to generate a reproducible formula. Finally, the scent is printed using a specialised device, streamlining the entire process.

The technology is not just revolutionary, but it also looks to solve future data challenges. The AI-driven sensor that can identify scent molecules can be a huge goldmine of AI training data. The company is also building a future where in the future people can capture, share and remix scents to create their own. 

Former Google ‘Brain’

Founder and CEO of Osmo (founded in 2022),  Alex Wiltschko, who comes with years of research experience has also worked with Google Brain as a research scientist for almost 6 years. Wiltschko has a PhD in Neuroscience from Harvard University. “When we succeed, we’ll have brought scent into the digital era, and fully automated large-scale data collection of a completely new modality of computation,” said Wiltschko.

The company works with the vision of ‘giving computers a sense of smell to improve the health and wellbeing of human life.’ Interestingly, a decade ago, as part of an April Fools Day prank, Google released ‘Google Nose’ that helps you search for smells. While that was a joke, today, we are at the brink of making it a reality!