These questions formed the basis of a two year experiment by researchers at. The researchers demonstrate that it is possible to generate odor, at will, in a compact device small enough to fit on the back of your TV with potentially thousands of odors.

Jin and his team of graduate students used an X-Y matrix system in order to minimize the amount of circuitry that would be required to produce a compact device that could generate any odor at any time. The scent comes from an aqueous solution such as ammonia, which forms an odorous gas when heated through a thin metal wire by an electrical current.

The solution is kept in a compartment made of non-toxic, non-flammable silicone elastomer. As the heat and odor pressure build, a tiny compressed hole in the elastomer is opened, releasing the odor.

Without an X-Y matrix system, thousands of individual controllers would be needed to accommodate the range of odors required for a commercial system. “That’s a lot of circuitry and wires,” said Jin. By comparison, using the X-Y system, 200 controllers (100 on the X-axis multiplied by 100 on the Y- axis) would selectively activate each of the 10,000 odors.

The UCSD team tested their device with two commercially available perfumes, “Live by Jennifer Lopez,” and “Passion by Elizabeth Taylor.” In both cases, a human tester was able to smell and distinguish the scents within 30 centimeters of the test chamber. When the perfumes were switched, the tester was exposed to coffee beans, which is the common practice for cleansing a tester’s sense of smell in perfume development.

“This is likely to be the next generation TV or cell phone that produces odors to match the images you see on the screen.” said Jin. The multi-odor concept was initiated by Samsung’s research and development group, headed by Jongmin Kim at Sait. They came to UCSD with a request for a practical means of accomplishing such a vision.