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Want your computer to smell like the things you see on the Internet? The
Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago hopes to oblige by downloading
odours from the Web (W0 99/8174). A PC is fitted with a peripheral device, like
a floppy disc drive. But instead of a spinning magnetic disc, the drive holds an
absorbent pad with strips of conductive material on the surface. The gaps
between the strips are dosed with scents that evaporate when a voltage is
applied between them. So signals embedded in Web pages can make the computer
release a whiff of what you are watching.