A US company is attempting to match people based on how much they like another person’s natural body odour.
Smell Dating is the first dating service to try and match users based on the idea that someone’s smell preferences correlate in some way to their sexual desires.
The first stage of the process requires participants to wear a t-shirt supplied by the organisers for three consecutive days and nights without applying any deodorant.
Participants will then send back the item of clothing, unwashed in a pre-paid envelope.
Once all t-shirts are received, Smell Dating will then send each participant swatches of t-shirts worn by a selection of other individuals.
The individuals will then smell the samples, and report back saying which smells they like the most.
And if those they like like their smell back, Smell Dating will then arrange an exchange of contact details.
On its official site, Smell Dating says: “At Smell Dating we understand the metrics of compatibility are chemical; connection is a matter of intercourse not interface.
“The Internet has replaced fleshy experience with flat apparitions, avatars and painstakingly curated profile pics. Smell Dating closes digital distance by restoring your molecular intuition.
“Our members make connections via deeply intuitive cues, perfected in the ancient laboratory of human evolution. Surrender yourself to a poignant experience of body odour.”
Who can use Smell Dating?
The unique matching service is currently exclusive to New York City, and is limited to just 100 participants.
Each participant will be obliged to pay a $25 charge for the service, which covers the cost of t-shirts and postage fees.
Whilst the idea of matching people based on smell seems quite original, this is not the first time that it has been tested.
In 2014, the BBC went to a Pheromone Party in London, to look at the companies that were trying to match singles by smell.
The parties, launched in the US, work similarly to Smell Dating, with attendees sleeping in the same t-shirt for three nights, and then bringing it to the event.
For more about Smell Dating, watch the promotional video below: