This smartphone app can detect, analyse scents

HEELING THE REEF ◗

Jerusalem, March 27: An Israeli company is developing a new smartphone app and a sensor which can identify and analyse scents, and help people select products best suited for them.

The sensor acts as an electronic nose and can be incorporated into smartphones, according to Oren Gavriely and Eran Rom, who co- founded the company, Nanoscent.

The sensor is made up of nanoparticles and emits different signals based on the smell it is exposed to.

The system can determine users’ scent profile and help them select products, such as cosmetics, perfumes and soaps.

The technology uses the interactions between the sensor and the chemical substances emitted from our body to generate a distinct pattern, or fingerprint, for each scent.

It then uses this data to train its algorithm to identify different kinds of smells.

“Combining scent with technological innovation is something that hasn’t yet been explored or fully realized,” Gavriely was quoted as saying by The Times of Israel.

The technology, once fully developed, would possibly be the first that would allow smartphones to have the sense of smell, he said.

The core technology

The technology uses the interactions between the sensor and the chemical substances emitted from our body to generate a distinct pattern, or fingerprint, for each scent. It then uses this data to train its algorithm to identify different kinds of smells.

The shield cannot be deployed across the entire reef, but on a smaller, local level to protect highvalue or highrisk areas of the reef. — ANNA MARSDEN MD Great Barrier Reef Foundation

behind Nanoscent was invented by Hossam Haick, a professor at the Technion - Israel Institute of Technology.

Integrating scent recognition technology into devices such as smartphones can help to us to find solutions to many human problems, the company said.