Waking up in 2032

Olivia Jezler
4 min readMay 3, 2017

Imagine waking up in an age when scent and odor detection technology infiltrate all aspects of our lives…

… still half asleep in my pitch dark bedroom (I love blackout curtains!), I catch a faint whiff of the comforting plummy, slightly apply and exotic Pink Goiaba & Vanilla scent. It’s still quite faint, meaning it’s not time to get up yet and because of this particular smell I know it’s sunny out. The other scent would be Mandarin & Basil if there were rain in the forecast. That one I bought off the shelf to get me energized on a rainy day… and surprisingly, it works! This particular Pink Goiaba & Vanilla though, I captured myself two months ago at the restaurant, DOM, in Sao Paulo. The smell was part of the water pairing; similar to a wine pairing, but each course is served with waters that work in harmony with the dish served. There I fell absolutely in love with this specific water, so I opened a latch on my wearable and held my wrist over the glass using a miniature version of a headspace technology to analyze the odor compounds that made up the smell. I held my wearable over my glass for about a minute until it vibrated and lit up, indicating it had finished. By the time I arrived at the hotel that evening the vial of the concentrate was already on my doorstep thanks to a new headspace delivery service app, by Laudamiel&Spoutnik.

The smell is now becoming much more powerful… already?! It feels like barely a minute went by and I gesture for the curtains to open without fully opening my eyes yet but with fully charged nostrils, like a newborn baby. Sooo bright! As I slowly open my eyes, a projected display appears mid-air with a flashing red light. I ask it to zoom-in and see that it is the indicator for air quality in my daughter’s room…. apparently a virus. I rush to see her. Indeed, she has a slight fever but has not fully awoken. I tell her to continue to rest and tap on the option to increase air circulation with antiviral and immune boosting Oregano & Sandalwood.

I hop into the bathroom to brush my teeth with my trusted Nu-Sonic brush. But first, I hold the brush inside my mouth for 5 seconds, as a display appears projected onto the bathroom mirror showing me a countdown. The brush uses chemical sensors to monitor ph levels, ketones and additional metrics such as the onset of flu and more serious conditions like diabetes and cancers. What I most care about this week, however, are my ketone levels as I have been on this crazy diet and need to make sure I am still burning fat and the negative emotions that go along with it…. Good, I am! Now, I can proceed to brush my teeth. A cross-flesh camera projects onto the mirror depicting laser brush bristles as they blast through the bits of last night’s dinner — leaving my gums healthy and my breath feeling minty fresh.

I step into the shower and it automatically turns on. “YSL Opium, please” and because I am feeling creative, I ask for it with an extra dose of ….amber…That’s a first but should come out nice. At that my shampoo, conditioner and body wash are ready to be dispensed with my desired scent for the day. Ooooo it’s perfect! And I ask for this one to be saved. Today, all my personal care products, delivered by drone, are fragrance-free. This way the smells don’t clash and long gone are the days of fruity-peachy shampoos that completely overpower the rest of my scentscape. Next, come body lotion and deodorant…all “YSL Opium+Amber”…. Perfect!

As I quickly get ready…I am already late… I grab my blow dryer. It is hooked to 5 different scent tubes, like the soda dispensers at my favorite nightclub in Berlin. It automatically blows the scent of the day onto my hair as I style — and it even lasts all day!

My wearable senses that my stress levels are rising, notices that I am late so it instantly calls a driver-less car to pick me up. I am still putting on my dress and heels…. almost done. Not to forget my South Korean iScent clip customized for the day. It monitors my biometrics and releases scents that only I can smell, according to the rhythm of my day. I remove it from its stand and attach it to the inside of my collar.

Running out the door, I hop into the car. The cabin is infused with calming Lavender & Chamomile at very discrete levels. I open my laptop to go over my important presentation that I will hold today to the board of directors. As I open the file my iScent sends off whiffs of Rosemary for concentration and memory recall. The scent will play again during the presentation as well, priming me and will help me concentrate and remember the details of my slides. Now Black Pepper plays to alert me and gather myself three minutes before the car pulls over. Feeling pumped! Running into the office. No more badges, just walk-through odor fingerprint panels (similar to metal detectors at airports) air blows from one side and the odor particles are captured on the other side. It detects my unique odor profile that is based on my genetic composition. These sensors also make sure I am healthy and can detect common colds. All good! The glass doors slide open and I step into the office.

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Olivia Jezler

On our sense of smell, scent, tech and humanness. Find me on Instagram @futureofsmell and futureofsmell.com.