This article is a spoof! It was created as an April Fools’ Day joke on April 1st, 2020
We have been working with organisations deploying Agile Working programmes for several years. Obviously, in the current pandemic, thousands of employers have become more or less agile almost overnight. One of the key issues addressing communications with, and between, home workers is the need to maintain communications and minimise isolation (ironic in a national state of self-isolation).
The need for more use of video instead of email and phone calls is widely recommended and this is easily done with Skype, WhatsApp, FaceTime, Google Hangouts all readily available. In particular, Zoom meetings have appeared as a leading, easy-to-deploy technology that even the Cabinet have mastered!
As a partial home worker for many years, I have always wondered whether more might be done to enhance the sense of community and connection when working remotely. A chance encounter with application developer, Nevjerojatna Priča, a while ago led to some exciting developments which are still only at beta stage but I felt now would be a suitable time to sense check our work so far.
My discussions with Nev started around what attributes we associate with those we know. Clearly, if we have shared workspace with them in the past, we know what they look like and how they sound but is there anything else that you specifically associate with them? This led us to thinking about smell. Do they use a particular cologne or perfume? Do they bring in home baked cakes? Do they smoke? Do you work with them in a particular location or maybe go for a regular coffee in your favourite coffee shop? Do you go to the pub with them? If you stop to think about it, there may be a location-related aroma you associate with them.
So how do your colleagues think you smell? What scent or aroma encapsulates you (or would you like to be associated with)?
After intense development work, none of which I understand, Nev has developed the Olfactory App, or OlfApp, which enables you to capture your particular smell/aroma/scent. This then creates a piece of code – an olfactory avatar – which you can embed in certain applications. Beta tests only work in WhatsApp at the moment but we hope to have more soon.
If you would like to be part of Nev’s beta test team, these tips will improve effectiveness: For perfumes and colognes, choose citrus rather than musk tones. If you use Brut, you may erase all your contacts. If you choose newly-baked bread, it should not be sliced. Coffee should be beans or ground, not instant. If you want to use a particular pub or coffee shop, you will obviously have to wait.
You can get the app here.
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Osmond Ergonomics 