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Innovation

August 6, 2026

 

How technology is learning to speak to our senses

From musical lollipops to scent-enabled virtual reality, new multisensory concepts are reshaping how we interact with our devices.

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Enrique Segura

Senior Specialist,

Digital Marketing,

Mastercard

In Tech

In Tech is our regular feature highlighting what people are talking about in the world of technology — everything from crypto and NFTs to smart cities and cybersecurity. 

    

For decades, our relationship with technology has focused mostly on sight and sound. We scroll through TikToks, read WhatsApp messages, listen to podcasts and watch the latest Nolan film in IMAX. Even the most sophisticated technology still relies heavily on our eyes and ears. But that is slowly starting to change. 

Around the world, researchers and companies are experimenting with technologies that engage senses once considered difficult to integrate into digital experiences. Touch, taste and smell, perhaps the most complex parts of human perception, are becoming part of tech conversations. While many of these inventions remain experimental, they offer a fascinating glimpse into a future in which digital experiences may be felt, tasted and even smelled, rather than simply seen or heard. Such experiences might become more immersive and maybe even more inclusive, as more people with visual impairments or other disabilities could benefit from these new technologies.

The flavor of music

At CES 2026, Lava Brand presented the Lollipop Star, a sweet that doubles as a personal speaker. Instead of playing music through the air, it uses bone-conduction technology: When the lollipop makes contact with the teeth, vibrations travel through the jaw to the inner ear. The electronics are hidden inside the stick, while each edition pairs a flavor with music from a featured artist. The versions shown at CES included a blueberry lollipop linked to Akon and a peach one linked to Ice Spice. 

The product was announced at CES at $8.99. It is more novelty than high-fidelity audio system, but that is precisely what makes it interesting: It turns an inexpensive, familiar object into a multisensory interface. Rather than asking users to put on another headset or wearable, the Lollipop Star combines taste and sound in a format just about anyone already understands. 

Turning fingertips into interfaces

Using a smartphone while wearing long nails can be an awkward ordeal. Because fingernails do not conduct electricity, they cannot normally activate the capacitive touchscreens used by phones and tablets. People instead have to angle their fingers and tap with the pads, which can make typing less comfortable and less precise. 

A research team at Centenary College of Louisiana is working on a clear, conductive nail polish that could turn a fingernail into a touchscreen-compatible stylus. Undergraduate researcher Manasi Desai tested more than 50 formulations and identified five additives that gave dried polish enough conductivity to activate a screen. The most promising approach uses an acid-base formula involving taurine, although it is still being refined because the taurine salt has low solubility in nail polish.

The idea sounds simple, but the technology is not. Earlier conductive polishes used carbon nanotubes or metallic particles, which could pose inhalation risks during manufacturing and tended to produce black or metallic finishes. The Centenary team is aiming for a coating that is clear, conductive and safer to manufacture. Crucially, this remains a prototype rather than a product ready for salon shelves, but it shows how an everyday cosmetic could quietly become a functional interface.

Smells like digital spirit

Researchers at the Institute of Science Tokyo have developed a compact, wearable scent system designed to work alongside a virtual-reality headset. The device can blend up to eight fragrance components in real time, adjusting their ratios and intensity to match the virtual environment a user is exploring. 

The system uses micro-dispensers to release minute droplets of liquid fragrance. Surface acoustic waves then atomize the droplets into a fine mist, while an electro-osmotic pump precisely controls delivery. This allows several fragrance ingredients to be combined close to the user's nose without relying on the bulky equipment associated with many earlier olfactory systems. In a virtual-travel demonstration, test participants reported that the added scents made the environments feel more realistic and improved their sense of presence. 

The project is still in a research phase, not a consumer headset accessory, and scent remains difficult to control. Odors can linger, overlap and arrive less immediately than images or sound. Still, the work suggests that future digital environments could recreate not only how a place looks and sounds, but also part of its atmosphere, from a forest to a bakery to a perfume shop. 

Taken together, all these inventions point to a broader shift. The next generation of technology may not be defined only by sharper screens or louder speakers, but by how naturally a device connects with the body. Taste, touch and smell are still difficult to digitize, yet every experiment brings technology one step closer to involving each one of our senses.