Smell
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Bosch's stink-removal gadget just swaps one smell for another
It defeated plenty of smells but it'll struggle against sweat.
Intel’s neuromorphic chip learns to ‘smell’ 10 hazardous chemicals
Of all the senses, scent is a particularly difficult one to teach AI, but that doesn't stop researchers from trying. Most recently, researchers from Intel and Cornell University trained a neuromorphic chip to learn and recognize the scents of 10 hazardous chemicals. In the future, the tech might enable "electronic noses" and robots to detect weapons, explosives, narcotics and even diseases.
Google researchers taught an AI to recognize smells
For decades, perfumers and scientists have struggled to predict the relationship between a molecule's structure and its scent. While scientists can look at a wavelength of light and identify what color it is, when it comes to scents, scientists can't simply look at a molecule and identify its odor. Researchers from the Google Brain Team are hoping AI might change that. In a paper published on Arxiv, they explain how they're training AI to recognize smells.
Science has brought back the scent of a long-dead flower
We've lost some parts of our natural world. Swathes of plants and animals have been consumed by evolution, shifting climates or the often-damaging expansion of humankind.
On the nose
When you are a world-renowned pioneer in smells, it's somewhat inevitable you will end up sticking your face into peculiar places.
Panasonic's deodorizer freshens your shoes while you sleep
In a world where self-driving cars are taking to the roads and computers are having casual conversations with salon receptionists, it's easy to forget that many companies are still working hard on solutions for low-tech, everyday problems. Smelly feet, for example. You'd think we'd have that nailed by now, but as Panasonic's newest launch demonstrates, there's still a lot of innovation to be had in this arena. Forget simply slapping a couple of scented insoles into your kicks -- Panasonic, the brains behind the deodorizing coat hanger, wants the business of shoe deodorizing to be a tech experience.
This device will literally tell you how much you stink
There's so much bad technology in the world that Japan even has a beautiful word for pointless gadgets: "chindogu." There's another splendid Japanese term, one that companies are apparently holding training sessions on how to combat: "sumeru harasumento," or in English, "smell harassment." To help keep offensively stinky people in check, Tanita is releasing a gizmo that figures out how bad your body odor is.
Japan's latest robot is a puppy that sniffs out stinky feet
The Japanese take body odor very seriously. So much so, in fact, that companies in Japan host seminars on "smell harassment." Impeccable hygiene also extends to the home, where people are expected to take off their shoes upon entering. Naturally, the tech-savvy nation has come up with a number of modern applications for funky-smelling folk. There's an app that tells you if your armpits kick. A female robot that checks for halitosis. And soon, you'll even be able to buy a robotic puppy that smells your feet.
Crowdsourced research predicts what molecules smell like
As of now, the only way to tell how something smells is to actually take a sniff. That is to say, there's no observable, scientific measure we know of that can predict how we'll perceive a specific odor. In comparison, things are a little more cut and dried with sights and sounds; because humans use wavelengths to process what they see and hear, we generally agree on, say, how we expect a specific color to look. But scientists now seem to be making progress on the olfactory front: New crowdsourced research has brought scientists closer to predicting a molecule's smell based solely on its chemical properties.
Wake up to the smell of money, not farts
If we were rich, we'd pay gourmet baker Richard Bertinet to rouse us every day with the scent of his freshly baked bread. Unfortunately, we're not, which is why SensorWake's smell-based alarm clock is such an exciting prospect. Rather than waking users up with the traffic report, the device uses a cartridge of odors to get you out of bed in the morning, from coffee and croissants all the way through to the smell of US dollars.
Scientists say comets smell like hell
Remember Rosetta? It's the European Space Agency mission to drop a probe onto Comet 67P and observe it as it passed around the sun. As the object warmed, it began to emit gasses which, using a pair of mass spectrometers, tell us what the comet is made up of and, more importantly, what it smells like. The ESA already knew that we'd see methane, methanol and ammonia, but were surprised to see hydrogen sulphide, hydrogen cyanide and sulphur dioxide. That means that if you were to stand on the comet and take a deep breath - assuming you hadn't already died - you'd enjoy a heady mix of horse crap, rotten eggs and vinegar. The scientific rationale for the discovery is that we now know a little bit more about how comets are created. But if you ever wanted to recreate the experience of standing atop Comet 67P as it hurtles around the sun, all you have to do is stand outside your local nightclub on a Sunday morning.
The TUAW Daily Update Podcast for June 23, 2014
It's the TUAW Daily Update, your source for Apple news in a convenient audio format. You'll get some the top Apple stories of the day in three to five minutes for a quick review of what's happening in the Apple world. You can listen to today's Apple stories by clicking the player at the top of the page. The Daily Update has been moved to a new podcast host in the past few days. Current listeners should delete the old podcast subscription and subscribe to the new feed in the iTunes Store here.
You can now turn your iPhone into a smell-o-phone
Well, the future is finally here, ladies and gentlemen. Scientists at Harvard have made the smell-o-phone a reality, and they did it using an iPhone and a contraption called the oPhone, a large contraption that mixes various scents to create specific aromas. The oPhone syncs with an iPhone app called oSnap, which lets you tag photo messages with whatever scents tickle your fancy. On the other end of the message -- which the company calls an "oNote" -- the recipient's oPhone device mixes the necessary scent notes and spews forth the aroma the sender specified. So, imagine getting a photo of a bonfire along with the bouquet of burning wood, or a snapshot of some flowers accompanied by their pleasant essence. It's certainly a niche gadget, but it's got some seriously futuristic appeal. If you're interested in this strange new communication method, you can pre-order the oPhone hardware via the company's Indiegogo campaign. Of course, if the only smell you're after is bacon, there's already an app for that... [via Yahoo]
Fly like a bird with this VR-powered, scent-emitting machine
Current technology and human anatomy may prevent you from soaring like a bird in real life, but a team at the Zurich University of the Arts may just have the next best thing. Their Birdly machine lets you flap your way through the air much like the Red Kite it's modeled after. Motors translate your hand movements to the virtual avian's wings, and an Oculus Rift VR headset gives you an all-too-literal bird's eye view of the scenery -- you probably won't want to look down very often.
Scentee's smelly smartphone notifications are now available worldwide
If you were crestfallen when you heard that Scentee's fragrance-emitting smartphone add-on would be hard to get outside of Japan, you can relax -- it's now available worldwide through the company's site. The perfume plug-in sells for $35 by itself (plus a whopping $30 in shipping), while scent packs for coffee, lavender, rose, rosemary and strawberry will cost you $5 each. That's quite a lot to pay for smell-based notifications on your Android device or iPhone, but Scentee is at least more practical than some of the other novelty imports that we've seen as of late.
Xbox One controller cost over $100 million to develop, smell-o-vision and built-in projector were considered
While Sony was content to toy with radical designs for the PlayStation 4's controller, it turns out Microsoft took a more conservative approach when building the Xbox One's gamepad. GamesBeat scored a look at the controller creation process and discovered that Redmond was reluctant to tweak the Xbox 360 controller at all since it considers the hardware "best-in-class." After some pressure from Zulfi Alam, Xbox's general manager for accessories, Ballmer and Co. decided to explore what changes could be made, and invested over $100 million throughout the course of the effort. Despite the firm's aversion to rocking the proverbial boat, it still wound up with more than a few unconventional prototypes -- some of which packed built-in displays and cameras. One of the strangest versions included a cartridge for emitting smells, and another featured a built-in projector that could throw out visuals reminiscent of illumiroom. Ultimately, the wackier iterations gave way to the traditional kit that's heading to stores, as the adventurous features drained battery life too quickly or the company's "core base didn't appreciate them," according to Alam. While we wouldn't have expected the Xbox One to usher in the age of smell-o-vision, we can't help but wonder what that future would have looked smelled like.
Why have normal smartphone notifications when you can use the smell of bacon?
Scentee wants to expand your smartphone horizons and add smell to the senses your phone already stimulates. The plug-in accessory attaches to headphone socket on both iPhones and Android smartphones and, when told to by the companion app, releases a burst of fragrance, paired with a customizable LED light. It's ridiculous, but that's very much part of the Japan-made accessory's charm. The most important factor here is arguably the range of scents available, and Scentee hasn't held back. In no particular order, aromas include rose, mint, cinnamon roll, coffee, curry, jasmine, ylang-ylang, lavender, apple, coconut, strawberry and er, corn soup. And that's not all. They're joined by a special limited edition Korean BBQ collection that'll be available on November 15 and includes three extra 'flavors': two different type of meat and, well, baked potato. This bundle's particularly skewed towards Japanese customers, although we're already infatuated with some of the future scents currently being developed, like bacon and even more fruit smells. We've sniffed our way through several options during our time with the accessory -- the video (and more details) are right after the break.
Robotic girl and dog pair up to judge your body odor in Japanese
"Emergency taking place!" That's quite possibly the last thing you'd want to hear from anyone smelling your breath -- a female humanoid robotic head mounted atop a rectangular pink and red box being no exception. Similarly, a robotic hound passing out after smelling your feet should certainly be cause for alarm. Japanese company CrazyLabo paired up with Kitakyushu National College of Technology to create both bots, tasked with smelling your breath and your feet, respectively. The woman, named Kaori-chan, passes judgement on four levels, with feedback ranging from "It smells like citrus!" to the dire exclamation you read about above. The pooch, for his part, doesn't speak, but instead displays varying levels of affection -- it'll cuddle up if things are looking good, but it'll bark or growl if it's time to change those socks. If the situation is beyond repair, he'll collapse, as Chopin's funeral march plays in the background. It's just as depressing as it sounds. Granted, it's all in good fun, but if you're easily offended (or often offending), you probably won't want to venture any closer than the demo video at the source link below.
TMU's virtual body simulates most senses from the comfort of your seat (video)
A lot of virtual reality, quite simply, isn't. It replicates the visuals and sounds, but not much else. Tokyo Metropolitan University's Ikei Laboratory is taking a shot at filling in more of the experience with a new exhibition. Its virtual body seat goes beyond a 3D screen and headphones to include vibrating foot pedals, for recreating the ground, as well as a fan that both produces wind and wafts scents. The demonstrator is currently being used to impress guests with the scents of a Milanese market or the rush of an Usain Bolt sprint, but it could eventually serve a practical purpose for some of the population: TMU sees its chair replacing an environment for those who can't be there in person. About all that's missing is taste, although we don't really need to lick our virtual worlds. Yet.
Olly: the web-connected robot that converts pings to odors
What if there were a way to add smells to the things you see every single day on the internet? To some, just the thought of that there scenario would induce nausea. To others -- primarily those who spend their days Googling various rose gardens around the globe -- it just might be the extra dimension to surfing that they've been waiting for. If you happen to find yourself tucked into that second camp, we'd like to introduce you to Olly, the web-connected robot that's capable of emitting smells based on inputs from the 'net. The critter was dreamed up by Tim Pryde and the folks surrounding the Don-8r (Foundry, if you're curious), and while there's currently no way to purchase one, instructions are forthcoming to produce your own with a 3D printer. In fact, it's recommended that users build a few, stack 'em up and connect different inputs (Twitter, Instagram, your mum's vegetarian cooking blog) to each one. It's the perfect cacophony... or the perfect disaster, depending on your browsing habits. [Thanks, Tim]
