Debuting at this years highly successful Wired Conference, the Ophone is a smelling device that uses your phone to send scented messages instantaneously. Developed by David Edwards, a professor in Biomedical engineering at Harvard University and founder of Le Laboratoire, the studio behind Le Whif and Le Whaf, the Ophone was originally designed to follow a simple sequence of instructions that release bursts of coffee, caramel and chocolate infused scents. However the device now can produce up to 320 different smells, and for this reason is touted to peak the interest of chefs and food fanatics, offering an opportunity for remote sensory indulgence.

Edwards proposes that "by empowering the rapid exchange and manipulation of olfactory information, the visual and auditory foundation of global communications today might tomorrow be intriguingly expanded by a third communication mode" - that of smell. The device itself takes the form of a handheld cylinder, which can be connected to the user's smartphone via Bluetooth. Through an Ophone app, users can select and arrange the smells they want to send to their friends into their own personal "scented symphony", creating a more synchronous and intimate connection between smartphone users.

This project proves that once again the realms of food consumption and sensory development continue to inspire a spirit of experimentation, as recently demonstrated with Camilla Wordie's edible textile designs.