No one wants to sit in a dirty, smelly car. But what happens when that car does not involve a human driver to clean it up? To help answer that question, DENSO has joined the Digital Olfaction Automotive Consortium (DOAC) as a founding member.
According to DENSO, this new partnership will give the company an edge in its efforts to improve vehicle air quality and interior sensing for rider safety and satisfaction, as shared mobility services evolve and more drivers become passengers.
DOAC was launched by French company Aryballe Technologies to inform olfaction product development and services. Aryballe develops and manufactures bio-inspired “digital nose” sensors enabling groundbreaking applications in the food, cosmetics and automotive industries.
“Most automotive research has centered on vision-inspired machine learning, but odor-inspired learning has promising applications that will contribute to the future of mobility,” said Rob Brinker, director of Thermal R&D at DENSO International America. “The DOAC is comprised of the world’s leading olfaction researchers focused on developing industry-leading technologies in the space. Utilizing our expertise in vehicle interiors, we look forward to supporting their mission.”
Soon enough, cities around the world will feature an array of advanced mobility solutions for urban populations, including self-driving cars, ride- and car-sharing services and autonomous buses and shuttles. For these services to be convenient and effective for city dwellers, it will take broad fleet deployments that are highly optimized and strategically managed. DENSO, as part of its long-term vision, aims to provide advanced technologies and products that allow customers to operate more efficiently and ensure passengers have an enjoyable experience.
The partnership with DOAC also will support DENSO’s advanced R&D strategy as it looks to use its sense, judge and actuate system-level approach to olfaction. This will allow DENSO to address and improve air quality problems or bad odors within the vehicle.
In addition to setting industry standards for olfaction, the DOAC will work to create an accessible reference database for relevant odors that includes everything from cigarette smell to odors indicating mechanical malfunctions.
Humans can sense an average of 1 trillion odors, according to scientific research. As part of DOAC, DENSO will continue to lead the development of next-generation technologies, including those related to olfaction, to create new value for the future of mobility and ensure passenger comfort.
