Whiff of the future

Wake up and smell the cyber-coffee -- the scent of freshly ground technology is brewing.

As the virtual world threatens to become even better than the real thing, prepare for digitally generated odors to soon waft out of a computer near you. The Oakland-based company DigiScents, one of more than 1,500 exhibitors at this year's Consumer Electronics Show, has pioneered the concept of "surf-and-sniff."

"This product creates a whole new experience and, in a sense, a whole new art form," company spokesman David Libby said.

But digital scent technology, along with any number of products hawked at CES, also creates a solemn question for the rational observer to ponder: You mean people actually want to buy this stuff?

The 33rd annual trade show, held at the Las Vegas Convention Center, the Sands Expo Center, the Las Vegas Hilton and the Alexis Park Hotel, runs through Sunday and will draw an estimated 90,000 attendees. (The event is closed to the public.)

They will gaze upon thousands of high-tech gadgets that attempt to sharpen the cutting edge while still falling on the side of the edge that separates useful from useless. Or a fad from a bust, anyway. They also will absorb spiel after spiel from CES vendors who prove beyond a doubt that where there is no need, one can be conceived.

Libby justifies DigiScents as "a way of enhancing the sensory experience of the Internet."

Digital scent technology, in ridiculously simplified terms, works like this: A scent dispenser about the size of a computer speaker is hooked up to a PC. The dispenser holds cartridges filled with 128 chemicals that can mix to replicate almost any odor. When the computer receives small bits of data (less than 2K, for need-to-know tech-heads) over the Internet or other digital media to generate a specific aroma, DigiScents' software triggers the dispenser.

So, potentially, 'Net surfers could visit the web site of, say, Starbucks and indeed smell the coffee before ordering a bag of grounds online. The same idea holds for food, perfume and other products where odor makes a difference. Beyond e-commerce, DigiScents could add the stench of alien guts to shoot-'em-up computer games, or turn that gag e-mail about doggy droppings into sinus-blowing fun.

DigiScents will hit the market later this year at a price that has yet to be determined. The demand will be there waiting, Libby predicted.

"The sense of smell is such a powerful one," he said. "And we think that there will be demand for something that can tap into that."

Matsucom, meanwhile, hopes to tap into the high-tech philosophy that no matter how good something is, it can always be smaller. The Denver-based company developed the onHand wristwatch computer, designed for those who yearn to stare at a screen during those agonizing stretches between home and the office.

Billed as "the world's smallest computer," the onHand watch transfers and stores data from other computers, and serves as a day planner and address book. Looking like something straight out of Dick Tracy, the $279 gizmo is the perfect gift for anyone who has ever lost a Palm Pilot or other handheld computer, according to Matsucom's Ping Wang.

"Some people would say a wristwatch computer is too much, too 'out there.' Others say, 'Wow, I really need that.' It's a toss-up. But obviously we're hoping that more people decide they need it," Wang said.

Ditto for American Technology Corporation, makers of "the world's smallest FM radio." The San Diego company produces a variety of bite-sized items, including an FM radio no bigger than a quarter that attaches to a set of earplugs. The one-ounce radio retails for $11.99 and, to hear American Technology's Tom Johnston tell it, ranks up there with the light bulb in its purposefulness.

"As soon as you walk out the door this radio has applications," he said. "You can take it walking, hiking, biking, to the beach. You can take it anywhere you go."

The chief appeal of the Rolodisc, by comparison, is that it keeps computer disks from wandering. The three-foot-high "motorized CD tower" holds 75 computer disks or compact discs and rotates much like an over-sized Rolodex.

The $140 Rolodisc, manufactured by Miami-based Excalibur Electronics Inc., helped Teri Goldsmith, a special accounts manager with the company, to clean up the mess of computer disks she has in her home office.

"It's an organizational tool," Goldsmith said. "I used to spend 10 percent of each week looking for disks under my desk because I didn't have a place to store them. With this, I don't have to spend all of that time bent over."

In similar fashion, the aim of the AutoPark Ultra E-Z Parking Guidance System is to reduce the amount of time people spend driving into the front of their garages.

The AutoPark Ultra is a miniature stoplight that affixes to a wall and tells drivers how close they are to the front of the garage. As the car approaches the wall, the light will change from green to yellow. When the car is within the pre-programmed distance for stopping -- a foot from the wall, for instance -- the light flashes from yellow to red.

Presto -- fewer dents in the fender of the Beemer or Benz.

Mike Muth, chief executive officer of Muth Mirror Systems out of Wisconsin, had a quick reply when asked how drivers had survived this long without his company's $59.95 gadget. "We just paid more in insurance," he said, smiling.

Only representatives for Sanyo were willing to admit to the true allure of one of their company's products.

For CES the electronics giant has rolled out a 3-D television that requires no goofy glasses or other cranial aid to create depth of field. Cool as the view is, Greg Battistone, a Sanyo regional sales manager, made no secret of the TV's practical uses.

"There aren't any at the moment," he said. Then, he added with a smile, "But it gets people to stop here."

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