An experimental investigation comparing a surface plasmon resonance imaging-based artificial nose with natural olfaction

Abstract

Artificial noses are increasingly used for both research and industrial purposes. Here, we present preliminary results on the comparison between performances of an opto-electronic nose with human perception. The used artificial device is based on surface plasmon resonance technology, consisting of an array of peptide sensors binding reversely to a large number of odorants. We first identified sources of experimental variance. Controlling for such error sources, we then found that the responses of the opto-electronic nose are not a mere reflection of the chemical space of odorants, but rather that semantic dimensions are also prominent, similar to natural olfaction. This opens new directions for the development of bio-inspired artificial noses and the choice of peptide sensors.