Posts Tagged Technology
Aromatic alarm clock wakes you with bacon
The scent of bacon always reminds me of lazy Sundays, when Dad would be home watching wrestling on TV, and mom would be making pancakes and bacon. Several decades later, thanks to some freaky genius designers, I can wake up to the scent of bacon every morning, and nobody has to cook it for me.
Yep, it’s the Wake n’ Bacon Alarm Clock. Set the alarm before you go to bed, insert some frozen bacon, and say good night. Ten minutes before you want to get up the little halogen lamps inside will heat up and start doing their job. If everything goes according to plan, you will start dreaming about eating bacon, and by the time your eyes open, your dream will come true. Now, there’s an invention I can get behind.
Link: Matty Sallin
Add comment August 8, 2008
VOC-emitting air fresheners exposed by UW study
The dangers of cheap, home air fresheners and scented laundry products are being examined by a recent University of Washington study. Looking specifically at solid disk, liquid spray and plug-in air fresheners, as well as scented laundry products, the study found emission of several toxic volatile organic compounds (VOCs) classified as toxic or hazardous by US federal law. The offending compounds include ethanol, ethyl acetate, benzaldehyde and acetone.
Discoveries like this one are good news for the higher-tech, commercial ambient scenting industry, which is implementing technologies that allow scenting without VOCs. (See our post of July 16, “Public space scenting: Is it safe? Is it green?“)
Read more in Chemistry World
Add comment July 30, 2008
Olfactometer debuts in SF this week
If you’re in San Francisco this week, stop by the International Symposium on Olfaction and Taste. While you’re there, check out the “olfactometer” to find out whether your sniffer is up to snuff. It takes 12 minutes to smell 40 difference scents, after which you’ll get a printed profile of your sense of smell. Designed by neuroscientist Lloyd Hastings, the olfactometer is making its debut this week. Hastings hopes to sell the machine to medical labs and specialty clinics.
Read more in the San Francisco Chronicle
Add comment July 25, 2008
Scent marketing winners announced
Winners of the 2008 SMItty awards were announced at SCENTworld earlier this month. Presented by the Scent Marketing Institute, the awards honor innovative people and companies in the scent marketing industry.
Honored this year:
Best New Proven Technology: Steven M. Landau of ScentSational Technologies, for development of unique aroma-enhanced packaging.
Best New Concept: Juan Miguel Antonanzas de Toledo of A de Aroma, for building a European network of “scent system operators” who can share resources that help grow the industry.
Most Unique Implementation: Clément Jeanjean of Presensia, for development of a scent-emitting digital flat screen for use in retail settings.
Related links:
Add comment July 23, 2008
Public space scenting: Is it safe? Is it green?
Ambient scenting companies tackled questions about ecological and human safety at SCENTworld, the scent marketing expo and conference held recently in New York. According to Richard Weening, CEO of environmental-services and scent-marketing company Prolitec, “Scent safety for humans and the environment is relatively easy to insure, because it depends entirely on the ingredients and the quantity used to create the scent effect. Great fragrance can be produced from ingredients that are safe for humans, in the quantity needed for successful ambient scenting, and have no negative environmental consequences.”
Several conference participants pointed out that traditional methods of scenting, such as candles, oil burners, plug-ins, and other methods that rely on evaporation cannot be finely controlled. Weening agreed, saying “It’s worse than you imagine. Scented candles burn fragrance oil to create scent, aerosols use propellants and alcohol, which are harmful VOCs, unsafe for both humans and the environment.”
The answer for safe scenting in public spaces, according to Weening, is “scent delivery systems that can control quantity and have the technology to produce a good scent effect with ultra low quantities of human safe ingredients. The technology for controlled delivery is available and is being used now.”
Related links:
Add comment July 16, 2008
Fabric scenting technology takes a leap
Portuguese scientists have found a way to improve fragrance-containing microcapsule technology for use in fabrics. Microcapsules are used in scenting not just fabrics, but ink for scratch-and-sniff applications and other printed fragrance implementations. Researchers have been seeking ways to extend the fragrance-giving life of the microcapsules for use in fabric, which generally undergoes plenty of torture by things like washing machines, electric dryers, or drycleaning processes.
In this Portuguese study, the scientists found that using polyurethane-urea as the encapsulating compound prolonged fragrance production and durability. The study involved infusing a wool-polyester blend fabric with capsules of limonene (the scent of lemon). The fabric was then subjected to a series of dry cleaning cycles and other tortures.
The fabric lost 24% of its limonene after one round of dry cleaning, 57% after three dry cleaning cycles, and 95% after five dry cleaning cycles. It also lost up to 60% of the scent after being run through an abrasion machine.
Links:
- Fibre2Fashion
- Science Daily
- “Microencapsulation of Limonene for Textile Application,” from Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research, July 2, 2008
image courtesty Fibre2Fashion
Add comment July 12, 2008
Prolitec launches computer-controlled scent delivery system
Prolitec has announced a new fully adjustable, computer-controlled, commercial scent-delivery system. Dubbed the Air/Q 510, the appliance serves spaces from 200 to 30,000 cubic feet, and uses a single board computer. Whereas most commercial ambient scenting systems have 3 or 4 settings, the Air/Q 510 has 50 precise settings, allowing the user the flexibility necessary to accommodate any room size or scent level. The system uses Prolitec’s micro-diffusion technology, which makes a scent impact with just a tiny scent concentration.
Designed for hotel lobbies, malls, retail stores and other public spaces, the Air-Q 510 can be installed in a track lighting system, an HVAC system, or mounted on the wall. It’s available in black and eggshell, or by special order in any custom color or texture.
Links: Prolitec
Add comment June 19, 2008
