The richness of the “aroma-scape” which we encounter every day feels like one of the last territories eluding our day-to-day technology. In fact, designing an electronic nose has been a longstanding endeavor of engineering. But now, thanks to advance in technology, chemosensor company Peratech is aiming to change that by wiring a nose into your clothes.

Peratech have designed a sensor which can detect VOC's, or volatile organic compounds. These are the gases which every odour emits (from household paints to human smells) and are often hazardous but without a detectable scent. The sensor is thin enough and require very little power so can be printed as a film, an attribute that lends itself for use in textiles and clothing. The film could be printed onto clothes with power supplied from a built in unit, or alternatively from mobile phones in users pockets.

The possibilities for technology of this kind are unique. There is immense potential, for example, for the sensors to be used in protective clothing to detect the presence of dangerous airborne chemicals. Utility aside, we're quite excited about where this technology goes once it gets into the hands of the future-textile designers. Seeing the smellscape of a city register on your jacket would be a totally new way to experience psychogeography...