Nissan's New Forest AC Aromatherapy

Who ever thought of air conditioning as a technology that has already peaked and has no where else to go, should think again. Japanese manufacturer Nissan decided to add a bit of built-in flavor to the unspectacular, life saving AC: aroma.

Their new "Forest AC" system, set to debut in Nissan's new Fuga, was designed to take air conditioning to the next, better smelling level. It controls cabin temperature and ventilation, as all ACs do, but it also controls aroma and humidity.

You may think, "OK, aroma, got it." Wrong. There's more to it. Nissan worked on the system with the Tokyo University of Science, to get a better idea on the effects of aroma on human mental activity.

The result of their work, the "Forest AC", intermittently and alternately sprays two unique aromas, borneol (Kapur wood, lavender and essential oil) and leaf alcohol, meant to "alleviate boredom and stimulate the driver's brain."

"The relaxed state is one in which the person calms down from external conditions or the consequences of what he or she has done and achieves mental acuity, resulting in good work," professor Kikunori Shinohara of the Tokyo University of Science said.

Another cool (literally) feature of the "Forest AC" is what Nissan calls "breezy air". The system "fluctuates natural breezes by changing the volume of air flowing through the upper and front vent outlets." It can detect sunlight and outside temperatures and control the ventilation patterns accordingly.

The new AC system also incorporates humidity control and high performance filter for pollen, odors and allergens. The air inside the cabin is ionized by the deployment of plasmacluster ions, achieving 10 times higher ion densities than in current systems.