What does an algorithm smell like? A part of your perfume is technology

Getting close to someone, smelling their fragrance and making them pleasant can be one of the best experiences of the day. Fragrance creators know this and that’s why they are increasingly taking advantage of technology to bring the most perfect perfumes to life.

Despite being the most unknown sense, smell is the only sense that never rests. We can close our eyes and not see or cover our ears to not hear, but it is impossible to deceive our nose to not smell for more than a few seconds or perhaps minutes, for those who master apnea.

We all have an olfactory fingerprint, except for the twins who give off the same smell. And, in the same way, each person likes one smell or another, as it happens with flavors. Therefore, there are fragrances for all tastes. Although for those who have not yet found the ideal perfume, some companies put at their disposal the possibility of creating tailor-made fragrances.

Perhaps Firmenich is one of the best known companies in the sector, as they are responsible for perfumes such as Aqua di Gio or Light Blue, by Dolce&Gabbana. All these were creations by the brand’s employees, but in 2018 it opened its Digital Lab with the collaboration of the École polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL).
With this initiative seeks explore the potential of artificial intelligence in the process of creating perfumes own brand.

Symrise, another of the big companies in this area, gave life to Phylia, a plan similar to the Digital Lab of Firmenich of the hand of IBM. “Now our perfumers can work with an AI apprentice by their side. One that can analyze thousands of formulas and historical data to identify patterns and predict new combinationshelping them become more productive and speeding up the design process by guiding them to never-before-seen formulas, ” said Achim Daub, president of Symryse Scent&Care.

In Paris has just opened The Alchemist Atelier, a space where the client can create his own perfume and acquire the Scent Creator machine. Be it allows to combine essences to give life to new fragrances to the pleasure of the user. “We clearly saw that such a solution went directly against two megatrends that we had identified in the market: one is personalization and the other is digitization in cosmetics,” said Hugo Lasala, the Chief Technology Officer at Noustique. All companies pursue one goal: to achieve the ideal fragrance for each of their customers.