A French company that digitises smell
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The system is well-suited to analysing scents to ensure consistency and replication, making it of interest to food and beverage manufacturers
Spotted: While smart sensors have become part of many everyday products, the art of aroma remains just that—an art practised by humans trained in odour assessment. Now French company Aryballe is digitising smell, using specially-designed hardware, software and data-ware platforms.
Aryballe’s technology has been in demand from food and beverage manufacturers. While the system is less sensitive than the human nose, having 64 receptors instead of the hundreds in a human nose, its biosensors are very efficient at breaking scents down into unique odour signatures. The platform then uses machine learning to help match new scents with those in its database.
Because of this, the system is well-suited to analysing scents to ensure consistency and replication. Aryballe is also clear that they are not trying to replace human scent and taste specialists but to aid in quality control and in reformulations. The company’s products can also assist tools that determine freshness, with developing new products in a number of industries, and even in creating the “new car smell”.
According to Terri Jordan, president and EVP of worldwide business development worldwide, “Overall, I would view that we’re more reliable rather than more sensitive,” Jordan said. “More consistent than more sensitive. And the ability to automate and get the same thing…We are super focused on repeatability and reproducibility in our technology, and obviously that gives rise to consistency from measure to measure and from day to day.”
While Aryballe’s technology for the digitisation of scent is primarily useful for commercial enterprises, there are also a number of retail uses for scent sensing technology. At Springwise, we have recently covered innovations in aroma such as a cocktail glass that can change the aroma of a drink and a scented cup that gives the illusion of flavour to water.
Explore more: Food & Drink Innovations | Sustainability Innovations