Scratch n’ sniff is a lost technology. Ever since the late 90’s people have become less interest in smelling pictures. But like all the trends of yesterday, scratch n’ sniff as finally been reincarnated in the form of a ‘food printer’.
What the fuck are we yammering about? According to Design Taxi, China-based Zhu Jingxuan, a student from Donghua University’s Fashion & Art Design Institute, has created a concept device that captures pictures and aromas of food and prints them on postcards.
The ‘food printer’ is a combination of a camera, a smell extractor and a printer: the camera takes the picture of the food; while the smell extractor collects the aroma of it simultaneously; and the printer prints a postcard with aroma ink. Zhu’s idea behind her food printer is so that people can capture the fragrances of food when dining overseas, and send it to friends back home—so that they can experience the cuisine visually and aromatically.
The system would work using an aroma sensor, which would analyze the smell of the food and simulate it by mixing different aroma inks stored in the machine. When the right formula is achieved, the smell would be printed onto part of the postcard.
“I spent several months designing it… What I completed was just an idea and draft sketch. Without the help of Sony’s designers, I could not have made the model.” – Zhu Jingxuan.
The food printer was created as part of Sony’s Student Design Workshop.
(via China Daily)