Get ready to record and playback nasty smells or a new fragrance you whiffed in a store. According to a report in the July edition of New Scientist, a team of scientists and engineers at the Tokyo Institute of Technology have developed an odour recorder that can just do that.

The smell recording device apparently uses 15 different chemical sensing chips to detect smells and create a digital smell using 96 different non-toxic chemicals, which then are re-heated and mixed exactly for playback. So far the smells of lemons, bananas, oranges and melons have been recorded and the device is reported to even being able to differentiate between a green apple and red apple.

Of course, the technology is still far from being finished or being available for consumers, but it's an interesting idea nevertheless. Such a device can do wonders for virtual reality and producing virtual enviornments where you cannot only see and feel but also smell.  And you can always nuke some one with a bad smell if you want to :)