Posted by Robin on 10 Comments
It is a gadget straight out of a science fiction story: a machine that can record a smell and play it back to you at your leisure. Present it with a designer perfume or freshly baked bread and it will analyse the odour and reproduce it for you later using a mixture of non-toxic chemicals.
— From Nothing fishy about smell-recording device, in today's Guardian.
Posted by Robin on Leave a Comment
Ah! A bold espresso that boasts intense flowery, winey, citrus, acid — and yes, even butter toffee notes. So says an electronic nose, anyway.
Behold, the coffee snob of the future.
Perhaps the machine assembled by scientists at the Nestlé Research Center in Switzerland isn’t quite ready to be called into daily demitasse-sipping service. But in an analytical test of its abilities, it predicted the range of aromas and intensities noted by a panel of experts for 11 different espressos, with few mismatches.
— More "electronic nose" news (see yesterday's Future Shock post). Read more at Electronic nose knows quality coffee at MSNBC. Thanks to Ruth for the link!
Posted by Robin on 2 Comments
Engineers have been successful in creating sensors that detect specific smells. But when it comes to replicating the entire discriminating ability of a nose - well, that's nothing to sniff at.
But a Palo Alto entrepreneur believes it can be done.
— From Can a computer have a sense of smell? in the San Franciso Chronicle, with thanks to inkdarkmoon for the link!