On Wednesday night, in the basement theater of New York's Rubin Museum, audience members were passed a squat metal cylinder and instructed to take a whiff before passing it along to their neighbor. On a projection screen, an animated movie called Alex and Wonderland followed the daydreams of an androgynous cartoon character as he travels the world from jungle to beach.

As the hero's adventures unfolded, the device released a corresponding "scent track"—the sweet scent of pineapple or an overwhelming burst of suntan lotion—that heightened the sensorial experience in a way similar to how a music score would.

— Read more at The Harvard Professor Who Is Digitizing Scent at Co.Design. If you have access to the New Yorker, you might also read Will Smell Ever Come to Smartphones? Hat tip to everyone who sent me links to the various articles about the Cyrano device!