Sony patents in-car scent system for targeted ads

Sony has patented a system that could make a car smell like hamburgers as it passes a fast-food billboard.

In a related application published on November 5, Sony describes how the car would know which scent to release. An exterior camera would spot a billboard or digital sign, and the system would check the car’s GPS location and the direction the sign faces against a database of registered ads. If the campaign is active, its entry would tell the car which scent cartridge to use and how long to run the dispenser. The smell could grow stronger as the car approaches the sign.

The trigger could come from inside the car, too. For an ad on the radio, a cabin screen or a connected phone, the system could look up the commercial by channel, website or airtime. A chocolate ad, for example, could trigger a chocolate scent. Sony also describes using the same hardware to release a signature fragrance when the car starts or a scent a taxi passenger chose in advance.

Once the system picks a scent, it can also pick who gets it. An interior camera would detect which seats are occupied and estimate passengers’ age and gender. The system would compare those estimates with the advertiser’s criteria, then send scented air toward a matching seat. In one design, a single ceiling-mounted dispenser can aim at different passengers.

That makes privacy a practical concern, especially in a shared taxi. A passenger could be profiled for an ad simply by taking a seat, and it’s unclear whether they could opt out of the camera analysis or switch off the dispenser. A radio ad is easy enough to tune out. A smell in the cabin is harder to ignore.

The U.S. patent office granted Sony a related patent in September. A rollout would depend on automakers or fleet operators installing the hardware and advertisers registering campaigns with matching scents. It would also depend on whether passengers are willing to give advertisers another way to reach them. For now, the system remains a concept described in patent filings, and Sony has yet to announce plans to put it into production.