Led by a former Google researcher, this company wants to give computers a sense of smell—here's how it worksAlex Wiltschko is the CEO and co-founder of Osmo, a startup that uses artificial intelligence technology to help computers"generate smells like we generate images and sounds," per the
"We've known that smell contains information we can use to detect disease," he says."But computers can't speak that language and can't interpret that data yet."While that's his long-term goal for the company, in the near term he wants Osmo to make safer, more sustainable aroma molecules for fragrances in everyday products like perfume, shampoo, insect repellant and laundry detergent.
"The reason why it's so challenging is because you can move one tiny thing around in that molecule, like one bond, and the scent of the molecule goes from roses to rotten egg," he says. Wiltchko's team could then use the GNNs to help their AI model understand atoms, the bonds that connect them and how that molecular structure determines its odor, he says.Eventually, Osmo wants to be able to use its technology to teleport scents by digitizing a scent in one location and recreating an exact copy in another location, Wiltschko says.