12-01-2012, 11:41 AM
Digital scent technology
[attachment=16010]
INTRODUCTION
Until now online communication involved only two of our senses, sense of hearing and sense of sight. Soon it will involve the third, the sense of smell. A new technology is being developed to appeal to our sense of smell. Bringing alive our experience, technology now targets on the sense of smell.
Using Electronic-nose we can sense a smell and with a technology called Digital scent technology it is possible to sense, transmit and receive smell through internet, like smelling a perfume online before buying them, sent scented E-cards through scent enabled websites, and to experience the burning smell of rubber in your favorite TV games etc.
PHYSIOLOGICAL ASPECTS OF SMELL
Before we describe the possibilities of olfactory displays, we should take a glance at the physiological aspects of smell. How does the nose work and what is its function? Naturally we can breath, smell and additionally taste with our nose. First of all we are interested in the anatomy of the nose.
Odor consists of many different molecules, for e.g. the aroma of coffee is made up of 20 various molecules. Nonetheless our nose perceives only 15 odors which is enough to identify the smell as coffee.
Basic principle of E-nose
An electronic nose can be a modular system comprising of active materials which operate serially on an odorant sample. These active materials can be classified into two: an array of gas sensors and a signal processing system.
The output of the electronic nose can be the identification of the odorant, an estimation of the concentration of the odorant or the characteristic of the odor as might be perceived by the human.
Sensing an odorant
In a typical e-nose, an air sample is pulled by a vacuum pump through a tube into a small chamber housing the electronic sensor array. Next the sampling handling units exposes the sensors to the odorant, producing a transient response as the VOCs interact with the surface and bulk of sensor’s active material. A steady state condition is reached in a few seconds to a few minutes.
APPLICATIONS OF ELECTRONIC NOSE
The electronic nose has been used in a variety of applications and could help solve problems in many fields.
The electronic nose can be applied by food manufacturers to such tasks such as freshness testing, quality screening of incoming raw material, and monitor for accidental or intentional contamination.
APPLICATIONS
APPLICATIONS FOR SCENT ON THE WEB
In addition to revolutionizing gaming, digital scent technology will bring consumers more life like and memorable experiences with scented movies and music, websites, e-mail, e-commerce and online advertising.
E-COMMERCE
Scent will bring the online shopping experience to life. Scent-enabled shopping sites will be more compelling if you can actually smell perfumes, flowers, food and beverages, cigars and exotic place.
