On Odor Reproduction, and How to Test For It

For years there has been interest in the possibility of building a reliable odor reproduction system (ORS), with its vast spectrum of applications: from e-commerce, games and video, via the food and cosmetics industry, to medical diagnosis. Such a system would enable an output device --- the whiffer --- to release an imitation of an odor read in by an input device --- the sniffer --- upon command. To realize this scheme, one must carry out deep and complex research that combines computer science and mathematics with chemistry, physics and biochemistry, and brain science with psychophysical experimentation. In the process, we expect a deep understanding of this least understood of our senses to emerge. I will discuss the feasibility of an ORS, and will also address the question (not unlike Turing’s 1950 question about artificial intelligence) of how to test the validity of a candidate ORS, in face of the impossibility of naming odors in general, and despite the fact that such systems still being far from being viable. The importance and nontrivial nature of the question are discussed, and a novel testing method is proposed, which involves ideas from imitation and recognition, taking advantage of the availability of near-perfect reproduction methods for sight and sound.