People use smartphones to order a dinner, catch a cab and find a hot date.
Soon, our devices may also be able to tell a man he has terrible body odor.
Nivea, the Germany-based body products company, has just announced a new product called "NOSE" a mobile phone cover that works as an electronic nose when paired with a downloadable app.
A man curious about his level of body odor activates the app and puts the smartphone near his armpit. The electronic nose then picks up the smell and evaluates it based on an algorithm created after analyzing the scents of 4,000 other men.
The app sniffs out the level of stench and sends the user a notification telling them how much they stink.
The people behind the “smellphone” decided to focus its olfactory awareness solely on male b.o. because of a recent study published in the journal PLOS ONE suggesting that the part of the brain that perceives odors is 40 percent in men than women.
The new “smellphone” technology is currently going through beta testing, according to Geoffrey Hantson, a Belgium-based advertising executive who is the chief creative officer behind the project.
“We’re introducing the app next month, but it won’t work until the phone cover is available,”he told HuffPost. “It’s up to Nivea on whether they want to sell those covers separately or as part of a package of body care products.”
Hantson admits that people might not buy a smartphone cover just to detect male body odor, but wants people to take a whiff of the future.
“My dad was seriously burned in a gas attack because the gas had no smell,” he said. “Something like this could be the perfect thing to use. You could also use it to test bad breath.”
Does it pass the sniff test? Possibly, according to UC Riverside professor Nosang Myung, the inventor of an electric nose.
“It’s possible it could work,” Myung told HuffPost. “It uses a simple system and it’s only detecting human sweat. So it’s possible.”
The “NOSE” may be small, but Hantson has big dreams.
“We’ve shown that it’s possible to make this technology small enough to fit on a smartphone cover, I bet it will be part of the actual phone in a few years.”
the look ... of a moving tribute.
University United Methodist Church in Tulsa, Oklahoma, paid homage to Prince on Thursday by including lyrics from his song “Let’s Go Crazy” on its sign.
“I heard the news [of Prince’s death] from a friend by text message,” the Rev. Nathan Mattox, senior minister at University United Methodist Church, told The Huffington Post. “And I was like, ‘I have to do this.’ So I thought of a quote of his that would mean something more to the world.”
Mattox put the letters up himself, an experience he described as “cathartic.” He then snapped a photo of the sign and posted it to the church's Facebook page.
The Image struck a chord with Facebook users, receiving over 12,000 shares on the church’s page alone.
This is the first time Mattox, who has been at the church for five years, has done a tribute like this. The minister has been a Prince fan since he was a kid, and while working as a DJ in college, he spun a lot of Prince’s classic hits, like “Little Red Corvette,” during his sets.
“I knew the girls liked them,” Mattox said.
When he got home from work on Thursday night, he continued his homage to the musician.
“I came across my used copy of ‘Controversy,’” he said. “I had a few friends over, drank bourbon and enjoyed the record — but made sure to get the kids to bed first, since it’s a little risqué.”
Today he’s still mourning and is wearing a purple shirt.
“I have a flashy peacock blouse my brother-in-law gave me that I can change into later,” he said.
Mattox hopes that people see the larger message in his salute to Prince.
“I hope folks see that the church is just like everyone else, we’re just trying to get through this thing called life,” he said.
The verdict is in — this reunion will tug at your heartstrings.
Florida Judge Mindy Grazer went viral last year when she recognized a defendant at a bond hearing as her former middle school classmate Arthur Booth.
The two have recently reunited after Booth, who had been arrested on burglary charges, was released from jail. The emotional moment was caught on video.
“You’re going to take care of your family, get a job and stay clean. You’re going to do something good for someone else,” Glazer said to Booth.
The two hugged and shared some laughs during the heartwarming encounter. Booth also spoke about how reconnecting with Glazer has motivated him to start anew.
“She’s an inspiration and a motivation to me right now. Mindy is incredible,” Booth said. “‘Cause I know where I could’ve been, but I’m not giving up on life. It’s just a new lease on life for me right now.” Booth spent about 10 months in jail. He won’t have to spend any additional time there as part of his guilty plea, however he received 10 years of probation and will spend time in a drug treatment program.
As Booth is looking forward to putting this all behind him, Glazer is cheering him on through this new chapter in his life.
“He had a good judge who wanted to give him a chance,” Glazer said, according to CBS Miami. This is a group effort to see you succeed. Don’t let us down.”
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