Comments on: Smellovision. Another step etc http://www.genomicon.com/2010/02/smellovision-another-step-etc/ The Crowd-Sourcing of Intelligent-Design Wed, 08 Feb 2012 01:08:46 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Guillermo http://www.genomicon.com/2010/02/smellovision-another-step-etc/comment-page-1/#comment-1059 Guillermo Sat, 20 Feb 2010 09:40:50 +0000 http://www.genomicon.com/?p=3806#comment-1059 Another thing to consider is that even if it was technically possible, the level of complexity needed to engineer an olfactory landscape might be so great it would be impractical for anything other than a proof of concept. Considering that our ability to detect off putting (or just plain weird) smells is fairly good. It would be all the range amongst other animals though. But, I'm clearly getting ahead of myself. Another thing to consider is that even if it was technically possible, the level of complexity needed to engineer an olfactory landscape might be so great it would be impractical for anything other than a proof of concept. Considering that our ability to detect off putting (or just plain weird) smells is fairly good. It would be all the range amongst other animals though.

But, I’m clearly getting ahead of myself.

]]> By: admin http://www.genomicon.com/2010/02/smellovision-another-step-etc/comment-page-1/#comment-1058 admin Sat, 20 Feb 2010 04:39:19 +0000 http://www.genomicon.com/?p=3806#comment-1058 Yea - that would be the instinctive approach... trouble is, that other things that we can deal with in this way - music, light, language etc ARE actually combinations of fairly simple "atomic" components... whereas smells (or tastes for that matter) are combinations of a fairly wide range of chemicals, a large number of which we probably haven't discovered yet. And I think we're probably fairly good at spotting the differences - so although isopentyl acetate smells like banana... it probably isn't going to fool anyone for long. Real bananas have a complex and subtle mix of all sorts of other things as well. I also have a feeling that the sense of smell might have quite a fast brain-filter mechanism... so when you first walk into a room you smell it... but it doesn't take long for you to tune it out... ie: our own internal senses of smell might not be that consistent. That said... it might be possible to work miracles with a fairly big palette (a couple of hundred chemicals say) and some sort of genetic algorithm. Maybe. Yea – that would be the instinctive approach… trouble is, that other things that we can deal with in this way – music, light, language etc ARE actually combinations of fairly simple “atomic” components… whereas smells (or tastes for that matter) are combinations of a fairly wide range of chemicals, a large number of which we probably haven’t discovered yet.

And I think we’re probably fairly good at spotting the differences – so although isopentyl acetate smells like banana… it probably isn’t going to fool anyone for long. Real bananas have a complex and subtle mix of all sorts of other things as well. I also have a feeling that the sense of smell might have quite a fast brain-filter mechanism… so when you first walk into a room you smell it… but it doesn’t take long for you to tune it out… ie: our own internal senses of smell might not be that consistent.

That said… it might be possible to work miracles with a fairly big palette (a couple of hundred chemicals say) and some sort of genetic algorithm. Maybe.

]]> By: Guillermo http://www.genomicon.com/2010/02/smellovision-another-step-etc/comment-page-1/#comment-1057 Guillermo Sat, 20 Feb 2010 04:28:41 +0000 http://www.genomicon.com/?p=3806#comment-1057 It kind of reminds me of a DNA sequence ladder. Maybe what where missing (it has possibly been tried, though) is a robust language of smells, something that allows us to communicate smell in a way that is detached from taste. Would that even be possible? Hmm... It kind of reminds me of a DNA sequence ladder.

Maybe what where missing (it has possibly been tried, though) is a robust language of smells, something that allows us to communicate smell in a way that is detached from taste. Would that even be possible? Hmm…

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