Over 100 years ago, Alexander Graham Bell asked the readers of National Geographic to do something bold and fresh – “to found a new science.” He pointed out that sciences based on the measurements of sound and light already existed. But there was no science of odor. Bell asked his readers to “measure a smell.”
Today, smartphones in most people’s pockets provide impressive built-in capabilities based on the sciences of sound and light: voice assistants, facial recognition and photo enhancement. The science of odor does not offer anything comparable. But that situation is changing, as advances in machine olfaction, also called “digitized smell,” are finally answering Bell’s call to action.
