“Smelevision Replaces Television” #science #ArtificialIntelligence #museum

An unusual research project brought that quote from an old Bugs Bunny cartoon to mind.

Is it possible to recreate a smell out of history? The Odeuropa Project is tackling that quest, starting with 16th century odors. But what records preserve the necessary data?

They’re going to do it with artificial intelligence. The first step is to train machine learning software to recognize references of scents from historical texts and paintings. Researchers will feed the computer texts from seven languages and images of paintings to train the software… then the software will be able to scan thousands of documents and images to identify smell descriptions.

NPR

[image error] 17th century London coffee house – coffee, burning wood, tobacco, candles, wig powder, dogs…

Paintings? I suppose a painting of, say, a late 17th century London coffee house will include clues. But turning them into a useful file seems daunting. Written descriptions strike me as a more straightforward place to search for data, but then the words must be replaced by air-borne molecules.

Once information is found, recorded, and sorted, human beings replace the AI. “The team will then work with chemists and perfumers to recreate around 120 scents — with the plan to help museums integrate them into exhibits to create an immersive step into history.”

So Bugs’ vision of future smelevision won’t be turning up in your home. Three or four years from now, you’ll have to find a museum participating in the grand project. If I were you, I’d avoid sticking my head into whatever device delivers the smell of the mid-1800s Thames River.