This Japanese device can tell you if your body is smelling due to sweat

If you have travelled in any form of public transport - metro, local buses, trains - which is crowded, chances are high you may have a complain about fellow travelers that you seriously wish they'd do something about. Yes, body odour.

How many times have you struggled on hot tropical days to stay away from the smell while returning from office, working out at the gym, waiting in queues.  It's the kind of small but irksome problem that almost everyone faces. And, it's not just something specific to our country.

In fact, in Japan, you'd be surprised to know, a solution has been put forward, and it comes from the techies.

There's now an app that does something close to a miracle. It tells you if your body is smelling due to perspiration.  The app comes with a pocket-sized detector, called Kunkun body, that can be connected to your smartphone via Bluetooth. The app allows people to self test their body for any smell. User can test the app on four areas on the body that are most susceptible - close to the head, behind the ear, armpit and feet.

Daisuke Koda, the lead incubator at Konica Minolta, told British publication The Guardian that body smell is the number one etiquette concern in the workplace. Additionally, no one is able to speak out about this issue, he added.

"We looked for a device to measure body smell, only to find that there was no device at all to tell the different types of smells," Koda told the Guardian.

The device was showcased at a launch event in Tokyo recently. The price of the product is USD 265, which is about Rs 17,000 in Indian currency. But unfortunately for potential customers in India, the company presently has no plans to launch the product outside Japan.