Gadgets and gizmos

Sometimes I feel like we give the Japanese a bit of a hard time, always going on about the ridiculous items that they seem to have a penchant for producing. So, in a bid to take them seriously, I thought we’d feature one of their more recent and genuinely useful items and hopefully we can set the record straight… begin again, as it were. After all, this is the nation that brought us Takeshi’s Castle and Ninja Warrior!

Recruit Co Ltd (a perfectly sensible sound company name, so that’s a good start) has developed a new technique of attracting consumers while walking around shopping centres and other large complexes.

The unique 42 inch video display unit utilises (oh dear, here we go) scent emitting technology to lure passers by and to engage the most powerful of all our consumer senses (it was going so well, too). Scratch and Sniff 2.0, as we think it should be called, is being trialled in Tokyo Station currently to determine its efficacy and see whether or not it really is effective at drawing customers in and then redirecting them (I guess you could literally say they’re following their nose) to stores and products.

So, there we go, consider the record well and truly straight now.