Automating Sense of Smell

 A sensory space we also experimented with

E-Nose Sniffs Out the Good Whiskey  

IEEE Spectrum, Michelle Hampson, February 18, 2022

New research describes an electronic nose (e-nose) that can analyze whiskies and recognize a whiskey’s brand with over 95% accuracy after a single whiff. Researchers at Australia's University of Technology Sydney based NOS.E on an e-nose originally developed to detect illegal animal parts sold on the black market. NOS.E has a vial to insert the whiskey sample, and a gas sensor chamber to contain the whiskey's scent; the chamber reads the various odors and transmits the data to a computer, then key scent features are extracted and analyzed by machine learning algorithms to identify brand, region, and style of whiskey. The researchers compared NOS.E's analysis of a half-dozen whiskies to that of a state-of-the-art gas chromatography device, and found both methods yielded similar accuracy.