We have invented devices to record what we can see, and devices to record what we can hear.
Why haven’t we invented something to record what we can smell?
How would this work if we did?
\[When I am travelling I really wish I could record the way things smell, because smell is so strongly evocative of memories and sensations.\]
In: Technology
Sents are chemicals.
You definitely can record them and reproduce them although chemical processes are industrial these days which ends up meaning it’s not that useful to make a scent detector/recorder specially for playback, because the only way to playback the scent, is a chemically based scent dispenser which requires the materials be manufactured safely and also wouldn’t be real time, or digitally send-able or copyable since they are a physical thing needing to be transported and stored reasonably.
We have scent dispensers, they usually dispense artificial or mixed natural scents, such as air fresheners, aroma therapy oils inside of diffusers, incents, candles and perfumes. And these are mass produced, to reproduce, scents safely and accurately. These scents are either directly extracts of the chemical scent and not exactly a recording. Or they can be more detected than recorded for analysis to be reproduced less expensively with counter parts.
Lastly, taking recording to mean digital media, scent as a media form is not very generalizable, the way 4D movies just shake you and get you wet, people experience various sensory preferences and sensitivities, usually enjoying most time to be scentless, especially when relaxing. This may or may not change, for example as virtual reality technology continues to mature like OP mentions consumer scent recorders for reminiscing could be popular
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