You shouldn’t have to look at your friend’s face after they hug you to know that you pretty much stink. Body odor is a natural occurrence during the hot and humid summer days. Nevertheless, it is still not a good enough excuse to ignore the problem. In order to solve the issue at hand, it is important to be aware of it. This new tiny device sniffs your armpits to let you know how much you stink.
A team working at Tanita, a Japanese company, is behind this creative piece of technology dubbed the ES-100. It aims to do the dirty work for you-quite literally. All you have to do is, flip the top part outwards to create a small wand that can scan your ears, armpits and anywhere else where perspiration occurs. It saves you from awkwardly pointing your nose to the area of concern, and its pager-like shape makes it look very ordinary and discreet, saving you from any embarrassing explanations.
Image: Tanita
Tanita currently expects men in their 40s and 50s to be their potential clients. They believe men in this age group have started to become increasingly aware and concerned with their body odor.
So how does it work exactly? Well, its functions are quite similar to a breathalyzer that detects alcohol particulates. Except here, the ES-100 detects odor-producing particulates. You’ll get the results within 10 seconds— although it is quite unclear whether the user has to scan themselves for 10 seconds or simply wait around for 10 seconds for the device to provide the results. Nevertheless, after scanning, the ES-100 measures your body odor intensity on a scale that ranges from zero to 10, with 10 being a very high body odor. Not only that, it can also tell you whether you’ve put on too much perfume or deodorant, which means the scale can also tip on the negative side! You can use the replaceable sensor for about 2000 times until its time’s up.
Image: Tanita
The device has already gone on sale for 13,824 yen ($125), which is quite pricey for a device that tells you whether you stink or not, even though a nose can do the same job for free! Nevertheless, it might not cross the oceans anytime soon. So the world might have to wait a bit to quantify their stench.
h/t: Engadget