NTT commercializes aroma-emitting digital signage system

Serkan Toto

Dr. Serkan Toto is an independent consultant and advisor focusing on Japan’s web, mobile and social gaming industries. Based in Tokyo, he works together with financial institutions and startups worldwide. Serkan has been the Japan contributor for TechCrunch.com since 2008. He is sept-lingual, holds an MBA and is a PhD in economics. → Learn More

Tuesday, August 26th, 2008

They tested it for nearly a year now but today Japan’s telecommunications giant NTT announces their aroma-emitting digital signage system is finally available [JP] for advertising and promotion companies in and outside Nippon.

A limited test run of the so-called Kaoru Saineeji (aroma signage) system in a few selected places in Tokyo was finished successfully. NTT uses a proprietary digital signage technolgy as the basis for the new system to produce video and sound.

A web service dubbed Kaori Tsuushin (aroma transmission) is supposed to attract potential buyers by a nasal stimulus: Kaori Tsuushin will emit fragrances in correspondence with the sound and video displayed via the digital signage system.

The result wished for is obvious: Improve sales by improving the marketing of the product. A cosmetics maker that used a test machine in one of Tokyo’s busiest underground train stations last year supposedly reported a 100% growth in terms of awareness in comparison to convential signs.

NTT charges a base fee of $1,400 for a basic fragrance-emitting system (including software).

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