Perfume makers – whose art can be traced back to ancient Greece – are turning to AI tools to develop scents that can manipulate people’s emotions.
Perfume makers are turning to artificial intelligence tools to develop scents that can manipulate people’s emotions.
Their expertise is an art that can be traced back to ancient Greece but now modern-day perfumiers say artificial intelligence can help them develop smells that trigger emotional responses in users.
Known as neuroscents, odours have been shown by biometric measures to arouse different positive feelings such as calm, euphoria or sleepiness.
Hugo Ferreira, a researcher at the Institute of Biophysics and Biomedical Engineering in Lisbon, is using AI technology to map brain activity and response to perfumes to build a database of neuroscents.
He told The Guardian: “With sight and hearing, you can imagine the face of a loved one or favourite tune. It’s hard to imagine a smell even though (it) can provoke a torrent of emotions and memories.”
The structure of the human olfactory system lead to messages being sent from scent receptors to different brain areas that control everything from memory or thirst to stress reactions.
Hugo added: “Olfaction is the most diverse sense with many different receptors. It’s estimated that there are about 400 different olfactory receptor gene families. Among other things these various connections may explain how we can ‘smell fear’, or the smell of victory.”
Many beauty brands have invested in neuroscent research and technology to explore the idea of creating fragrances proven to make consumers feel good.
L’Oréal has partnered with neurotechnology company Emotiv to create a scent choice “experience”.
Shoppers at select Yves Saint Laurent stores around the world have used a headset to create an electroencephalogram – EEG – to discover which scents appealed to them.
Results have shown 95 per cent of customers who used the headset found the right perfume.
EveryHuman – an algorithmic perfumery based in the Netherlands – makes unique scents in minutes using a questionnaire and algorithms.
The company’s co-founder Anahita Mekanik said: “My interest in algorithmic perfumery is the access it provides to people to engage with scent directly.
“As a scent developer, what I found most fascinating was that for every scent that was launched, thousands of iterations would be made and discarded.
“Evaluating all those ‘imperfect’ trials that never made it to consumers – some of which they would’ve loved – was the core of the development process.”
AI being used by perfume makers to develop scents that make users feel great
