Inventions for the new millennium

2000/02/01 Waliño, Josu - Elhuyar Fundazioa Iturria: Elhuyar aldizkaria

• Patenteak/Asmakizunak
• Hardwarea

Computer odors: iSmell

It is a dream many times heard: to be able to transmit smells electronically. The peripheral created by the founders of the company "Digiscents" has made this dream come true. His invention is named iSmell. This device understands some of the codes transmitted by the computer and diffuses the smells indicated by these codes.

The creators of this system knew that about 1,000 proteins are capable of producing a sense of smell to the brain. It is enough, therefore, to combine these proteins to produce odors. As a result of its research, the project has consisted in dividing real smells into basic smells. iSmell uses 128 basic smells that can be combined with software to produce real smells. The user will use the odour palette as the artist, as the color palettes are used in drawing programs, and using this pallet will generate odor. The peripheral will understand the combination of basic smells sent by the software and will therefore combine and release certain chemicals. This produces odors.

Through this system you can send smells through the Internet and use smells in computer games and CD-ROM. To do this, the creators of iSmell start talking to Sega, Nintendo, etc. But this is not the only face of this business. Odour banks have already been created on the internet so that people can buy smells: the smell of orange, the smell of chocolate or the smell of smoke are already on sale. They also want to bring their invention to the cinema, but the problem in this field is another: it can produce odor at a certain moment of the film, but, how to remove that odor from the room when the corresponding sequence has ended?
This new invention can reach medicine, since aromatherapy can be done by computer from a website of the Internet or using the CD-ROM.
More information at www.digiscents.com

Remote control for Internet

Aware of the importance of the Internet in everyday life, they have created a remote control that will make it easier to navigate. This controller is equipped with 40 buttons and card reader. Thus, by pressing a button we can directly access the web we want to visit. This control that connects to our computer like any other peripheral offers us a classification of many web addresses. We can update this classification as we want and with the addresses we want. In addition, we can customize it based on users.

In addition, this command named Egopad has a card reader. This reader does not read credit cards, but propaganda cards. Thanks to this system, several companies can extend the link to their website, since as soon as people enter the Egopad, they would connect to the website of this company without having to write the address. It is a good form of propaganda that can be distributed with magazines, newspapers, etc. More information at www.planetportal.com

Mouse Rival: Handkey

Although the big rival of the common mouse has been the cat, the electronic mouse has created another: Handkey. We talk about a ring invented by a young equator. He says that this ring will replace in a very short time the mouse that helps us control the computer. Handkey is a ring 1,5 cm long and 0,5 cm thick that is placed on the lazy finger. It works without cables, since the screen placed on the computer is connected to the computer by infrared rays guided to the protector. The technology used by this system is compatible with the current computers. It can be used with any computer.

Ecuadorian Antonio Romero has been developing this device for four years, which will be launched this spring through an American company. We will see if this is the cat that will eat the mouse of our computer.

Computer jersey

Think you can take your doctor all day on your back. They have recently invented a similar system: a computer jersey that takes care of our health. This jersey constantly receives information about the progress of our body: the degree of our heart beats, the respiratory rhythm, etc. All information is stored on a small computer that we carry tied in the belt. The information collected on the belt is sent via the Internet to a website where the doctors involved control possible changes in the health of the user.
This system has been devised by Dr. Marvin Sackner, who says that “while the person is working, we can know how he is in a stressful situation or sitting quietly at home.” More information: www.lifeshirt.com

These are some of the novelties that want to sell us at the beginning of this new millennium. There are many others that, as we have all said, combine computers and the internet, and the truth is that today it is quite difficult to distinguish both concepts. We have also talked about some of them, such as the molecular computer or the television that manages the email, and of course, about the new services that are being offered on the Internet: the possibility of online recipes and the possibility of making funerals online. We are born to see eleven, but this is only the beginning.