The digitization of smell could have applications in healthcare, public safety, and product development. For instance, smell-enabled disease diagnostics could provide new ways to detect health issues, while smell-detection technology could be used to sniff out pests and dangerous substances. In product development, AI could be used to create appealing aromas. Despite the potential, these technologies have yet to be deployed at scale.
Key takeaways:
- Smell-focused startup Osmo, which combines AI and olfactory science, raised $60 million in a Series A backed by Google Ventures and Lux Capital.
- There are several startups at the intersection of scent and technology that have pulled in funding in the past few years, with focus areas ranging from digital scent detection to odor-based cancer diagnostics.
- Health care is a major focus for funded smell-tech companies, including Silicon Valley-based Koniku and Montreal-based Noze, which are developing technologies for disease diagnostics using scent.
- Osmo's roadmap for digitizing scent involves turning odor molecules into digital signals, understanding how signals are related and perceived as sense, and turning these digital signals back into atoms.