Electronic Noses
Electronic noses are increasingly present in the industry of the 21st century. Major advances in the world of artificial intelligence today make it possible to use electronic noses in the fields of health, safety and beauty. How do these intelligent machines work? How are they used in modern perfumery? Will perfumers eventually be replaced by electronic noses? Master Parfums tells you everything!
The Electronic Nose, a Futuristic Machine?
What Is an Electronic Nose?
The electronic nose is a biomimetic system designed to imitate the function of the human olfactory system. An electronic nose is a device used to detect and analyse smells and tastes, in addition to, or as a replacement for, the sense of smell of a human or an auxiliary dog (for example, for the detection of drugs or explosives).
Since the beginning of the 2010s, electronic sensor technology has undergone major developments, from both a technical and a commercial point of view. The English expression “electronic sensing” refers to the ability to reproduce the human senses thanks to a set of sensors and recognition systems.
How an Electronic Nose Works
The electronic nose imitates the process by which humans recognise smells. Once inhaled, the odorant molecules attach to a sensor, a little like olfactory receptors that analyse chemical fingerprints. This information is initially encoded as a unique reference. Then this code is sent to a database for analytical processing.
The architecture of an electronic nose depends on the use that will be made of it and the reasons for which it is designed. Generally speaking, it is created with a gas aspiration or inhalation sensor system, and an analytical and information-processing subsystem via algorithms.
In practice, most of these algorithms work by comparing descriptions of new data with descriptions of previously evaluated samples. This functionality requires a learning phase, before the development phase.
At the end of this learning phase, it will be possible to correctly classify and catalogue most of the smells that are presented.
These noses are widely used in the fields of food processing to check the freshness of foods, of defence to detect explosives for example, in the fields of the environment to recognise possible pollutants, and increasingly in medicine thanks to a process that analyses patients’ breath in search of possible diseases. For a few years now, they have also been used in the world of perfumery.
The Electronic Nose in Perfumery
Until now, the creation of perfumes was still very artisanal. How is the electronic nose used in perfumery, and will it eventually supplant humans?
The Electronic Nose
Obviously, all the technical qualities a human possesses are available via the machine. A few years ago, an AAP (Augmented Assistant Perfumer) named Philyra was born.
IBM Research conducted a study by collecting data concerning consumer tastes on the basis of several measures. Composed of nearly 2 million perfume formulas, the algorithm can create fragrances based on past successes.
Richard Goodwin, an IBM researcher, said: “This system behaves like an apprentice; in the same way that a human would learn from a master which combinations of ingredients work, the machine learns to create based on the formulas that work best.”
Algorithms are important accelerators of innovation, and the perfume industry needs them to evolve its offerings. Consumers want to be seduced by inventive, creative novelty.
Is a Perfume Made Entirely by Artificial Intelligence Possible?
Yes, technically it is achievable, but the electronic nose is not designed to replace perfumers and their evaluators. The final composition will be validated by the professional.
Electronic noses are an aid in this respect, a way to save time and energy wisely. Some ultra-high-performance electronic noses have a smell library of 99,000 molecules. (The human nose is said to be capable of deciphering 1,000 billion!)
But from an emotional point of view, it does not replace the hedonic, subjective evaluation particular to humans. Unlike the human nose, the electronic nose can precisely remember each odorant molecule for months or years. Our olfactory memory is not as high-performing.
For Claire Viola, vice-president of digital strategy at Symrise: “Creation will always need humans, because fragrances are developed from emotions, from intuitions. It is better to consider artificial intelligence as an assistant perfumer, a tool at the service of an ‘augmented’ professional.”
The aim of using an electronic nose is to be able to propose other viable formulations, and to use new raw materials, while being supervised and validated by a master perfumer.
The interest of artificial intelligence would therefore be to offer another point of view and to generate the use of new ingredients. AI can then offer wonderful opportunities, provided that the emotional aspect is respected.
