A new gadget called the Ophone enables users to send odors to friends instead of traditional text messages, foreign media outlets reported Monday.

“The Olfactive Project is a collaboration between artists, designers, scientists and performers built on an old dream of a universal language,” David Edwards, founder of Le Laboratoire, was quoted as saying.

The founder is looking to set off inherent emotional connections through various scents, conjuring up images that can communicate basic types of messages.

Using the oChip, a small cartridge attached to a smartphone, users can send the selected smell using the corresponding app called oTracks. Users also have control over how it is received through programming that gives different hints of the smell along with music.

The technology was first developed by students at Harvard University under the guidance of French-based Le Laboratoire.

The release date has not yet been announced but the developers are constantly working on transmitting a wider range of smells, aiming for up to 1000 different kinds.

By Yoon Ha-youn and news reports (yhayoun@heraldcorp.com)