Olfaction-enhanced multimedia: Perspectives and challenges

This is the post-print version of the Article. The official published version can be accessed from the link below - Copyright @ 2011 Springer VerlagOlfaction—or smell—is one of the last challenges which multimedia and multimodal applications have to conquer. Enhancing such applications with olfactory stimuli has the potential to create a more complex—and richer—user multimedia experience, by heightening the sense of reality and diversifying user interaction modalities. Nonetheless, olfaction-enhanced multimedia still remains a challenging research area. More recently, however, there have been initial signs of olfactory-enhanced applications in multimedia, with olfaction being used towards a variety of goals, including notification alerts, enhancing the sense of reality in immersive applications, and branding, to name but a few. However, as the goal of a multimedia application is to inform and/or entertain users, achieving quality olfaction-enhanced multimedia applications from the users’ perspective is vital to the success and continuity of these applications. Accordingly, in this paper we have focused on investigating the user perceived experience of olfaction-enhanced multimedia applications, with the aim of discovering the quality evaluation factors that are important from a user’s perspective of these applications, and consequently ensure the continued advancement and success of olfaction-enhanced multimedia applications

Predicting the Receptive Range of Olfactory Receptors

Although the family of genes encoding for olfactory receptors was identified more than 15 years ago, the difficulty of functionally expressing these receptors in an heterologous system has, with only some exceptions, rendered the receptive range of given olfactory receptors largely unknown. Furthermore, even when successfully expressed, the task of probing such a receptor with thousands of odors/ligands remains daunting. Here we provide proof of concept for a solution to this problem. Using computational methods, we tune an electronic nose to the receptive range of an olfactory receptor. We then use this electronic nose to predict the receptors' response to other odorants. Our method can be used to identify the receptive range of olfactory receptors, and can also be applied to other questions involving receptor–ligand interactions in non-olfactory settings

Zinc Nanoparticles Enhance Brain Connectivity in the Canine Olfactory Network: Evidence From an fMRI Study in Unrestrained Awake Dogs

Prior functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) studies have indicated increased neural activation when zinc nanoparticles are added to odorants in canines. Here we demonstrate that zinc nanoparticles up-regulate directional brain connectivity in parts of the canine olfactory network. This provides an explanation for previously reported enhancement in the odor detection capability of the dogs in the presence of zinc nanoparticles. In this study, we obtained fMRI data from awake and unrestrained dogs while they were being exposed to odorants with and without zinc nanoparticles, zinc nanoparticles suspended in water vapor, as well as just water vapor alone. We obtained directional connectivity between the brain regions of the olfactory network that were significantly stronger for the condition of odorant + zinc nanoparticles compared to just odorants, water vapor + zinc nanoparticles and water vapor alone. We observed significant strengthening of the paths of the canine olfactory network in the presence of zinc nanoparticles. This result indicates that zinc nanoparticles could potentially be used to increase canine detection capabilities in the environments of very low concentrations of the odorants, which would have otherwise been undetected

Chemical sense marks - Expanding the boundaries of registrability frequent concerns when applying for registration at the office for harmonisation in the internal market (trade marks and designs) (OHIM)

This thesis was submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy and awarded by Brunel University on 14/10/2010.The harmonisation of the European Trade Mark laws and the introduction of unconventional marks under this regime have encouraged interested parties to seek registration of chemical senses (scent and taste) as trade marks. This thesis studies the current state of affairs of these types of marks. It discusses in general, the panorama that these types of marks have when registrability is at issue. The purpose of this research is therefore to scrutinise the trade mark legal system, including a discussion of the origins and rationale underlying it, to try to understand the burdens presented when registering chemical sense marks. The starting point of this thesis is that the European Regulation and the Directive of the Trade Mark law open the door to the protection of chemical senses under the Trade Mark law regime. Yet, despite some early successful registration, their fate is still burdened with uncertainty and therefore the rationale for this study is to try to find whether chemical sense marks are truly marks and therefore protectable under the trade mark system. The approach chosen addresses the examination of all requirements for a sign to be protected under the trade mark system. The reason is that protection of chemical senses might be granted if such marks are recognised as signs, are graphically represented and are capable of distinguishing products of one undertaking from those of another undertaking. By examining the aforementioned requirements, the study reveals that while chemical senses marks might be seen as marks, they find that registration is not quite feasible. The thesis emphasises that graphic representation is only one of the many issues that chemical sense marks are confronted with. Issues such as distinctiveness, the need to keep free and functionality remain problematic. Moreover, the scope of protection afforded to chemical sense marks are yet untested. Case law will ascertain that the intent behind the trade mark regime to grant registration to chemical senses is unresolved. Still, the significant interest in chemical senses as trade marks appears to be not softening by this notion

The influence of olfaction on the perception of high-fidelity computer graphics

The computer graphics industry is constantly demanding more realistic images and animations. However, producing such high quality scenes can take a long time, even days, if rendering on a single PC. One of the approaches that can be used to speed up rendering times is Visual Perception, which exploits the limitations of the Human Visual System, since the viewers of the results will be humans. Although there is an increasing body of research into how haptics and sound may affect a viewer's perception in a virtual environment, the in uence of smell has been largely ignored. The aim of this thesis is to address this gap and make smell an integral part of multi-modal virtual environments. In this work, we have performed four major experiments, with a total of 840 participants. In the experiments we used still images and animations, related and unrelated smells and finally, a multi-modal environment was considered with smell, sound and temperature. Beside this, we also investigated how long it takes for an average person to adapt to smell and what affect there may be when performing a task in the presence of a smell. The results of this thesis clearly show that a smell present in the environment firstly affects the perception of object quality within a rendered image, and secondly, enables parts of the scene or the whole animation to be selectively rendered in high quality while the rest can be rendered in a lower quality without the viewer noticing the drop in quality. Such selective rendering in the presence of smell results in significant computational performance gains without any loss in the quality of the image or animations perceived by a viewer

Chemical sense marks : expanding the boundaries of registrability frequent concerns when applying for registration at the office for harmonisation in the internal market (trade marks and designs) (OHIM)

The harmonisation of the European Trade Mark laws and the introduction of unconventional marks under this regime have encouraged interested parties to seek registration of chemical senses (scent and taste) as trade marks. This thesis studies the current state of affairs of these types of marks. It discusses in general, the panorama that these types of marks have when registrability is at issue. The purpose of this research is therefore to scrutinise the trade mark legal system, including a discussion of the origins and rationale underlying it, to try to understand the burdens presented when registering chemical sense marks. The starting point of this thesis is that the European Regulation and the Directive of the Trade Mark law open the door to the protection of chemical senses under the Trade Mark law regime. Yet, despite some early successful registration, their fate is still burdened with uncertainty and therefore the rationale for this study is to try to find whether chemical sense marks are truly marks and therefore protectable under the trade mark system. The approach chosen addresses the examination of all requirements for a sign to be protected under the trade mark system. The reason is that protection of chemical senses might be granted if such marks are recognised as signs, are graphically represented and are capable of distinguishing products of one undertaking from those of another undertaking. By examining the aforementioned requirements, the study reveals that while chemical senses marks might be seen as marks, they find that registration is not quite feasible. The thesis emphasises that graphic representation is only one of the many issues that chemical sense marks are confronted with. Issues such as distinctiveness, the need to keep free and functionality remain problematic. Moreover, the scope of protection afforded to chemical sense marks are yet untested. Case law will ascertain that the intent behind the trade mark regime to grant registration to chemical senses is unresolved. Still, the significant interest in chemical senses as trade marks appears to be not softening by this notion.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

Making Sense of Smell: Classifications and Model Thinking in Olfaction Theory

This thesis addresses key issues of scientific realism in the philosophy of biology and chemistry through investigation of an underexplored research domain: olfaction theory, or the science of smell. It also provides the first systematic overview of the development of olfactory practices and research into the molecular basis of odours across the 19th and 20th century. Historical and contemporary explanations and modelling techniques for understanding the material basis of odours are analysed with a specific focus on the entrenchment of technological process, research tradition and the definitions of materiality for understanding scientific advancement. The thesis seeks to make sense of the explanatory and problem solving strategies, different ways of reasoning and the construction of facts by drawing attention to the role and application of scientific representations in olfactory practices. Scientific representations such as models, classifications, maps, diagrams, lists etc. serve a variety of purposes that range from the stipulation of relevant properties and correlations of the research materials and the systematic formation of research questions, to the design of experiments that explore or test particular hypotheses. By examining a variety of modelling strategies in olfactory research, I elaborate on how I understand the relation between representations and the world and why this relation requires a pluralist perspective on scientific models, methods and practices. Through this work I will show how a plurality of representations does not pose a problem for realism about scientific entities and their theoretical contexts but, on the contrary, that this plurality serves as the most reliable grounding for a realistic interpretation of scientific representations of the world and the entities it contains. The thesis concludes that scientific judgement has to be understood through its disciplinary trajectory, and that scientific pluralism is a direct consequence of the historicity of scientific development

Brain-Computer Interfaces

Die vorliegende Dissertation beschreibt Ergebnisse der Arbeit, durchgeführt am Fraunhofer Institut für Rechnerarchitektur und Softwaretechnik (FIRST), insbesondere bei der Forschungsgruppe für Intelligente Datenanalyse (IDA), im Rahmen des Projektes "Brain-Computer Interface" (BCI). Das angestrebte Ziel des aktuell laufenden Projektes ist es, ein Hardware- und Software-System zu entwerfen und zu entwickeln, das in der Lage ist elektroencephalographische (EEG)Signale(gewonnen auf eine nicht-invasive Art, mit Hilfe der Oberflächenelektroden, die über dem Kopf des Benutzers angebracht sind), in Echtzeit in spezielle Kommandos umzuwandeln, so dass für den Probanden eine verlässliche Steuerung einer Computeranwendung, bzw. eines Gerätes ermöglicht wird. Die Steuerung einer Computeranwendung soll im Rahmen dieser Arbeit in Form von einfachen Computerspielen (Ping-Pong, Pacman, Tetris) repräsentiert werden, im Weiteren bezeichnet als "Brain-Gaming". Hierzu sind fundierte Überlegungen zum Entwurf und Realisierung einer Kommunikationsschnittstelle und des zugehörigen Protokolls angestellt worden. Ein weiterer wichtiger Bestandteil jeder Steuerung ist deren Strategie und der Befehlssatz der Anwendung. So wurden mehrere Strategien entwickelt, implementiert und in verschiedenen Szenarien experimentell erprobt. Die Flexibilität der Steuerungsschnittstelle stellte sich als einer der wichtigsten Aspekte beim Entwurf und der Entwicklung von Rückkopplungsanwendungen. Bei der Steuerung eines Gerätes kann es sich um das Lenken und Bewegen eines Rollstuhls, z.B. für querschnittsgelehmte Patienten, oder um das Bewegen einer Arm-, bzw. Beinprothese für Patienten mit amputierten Extremitäten handeln. Dies wurde vorerst als Simulation einer Extremität (Arm) auf dem Computer-Bildschirm realisiert, so dass es in zukünftigen Experimenten an bedürftigen Patienten getestet werden kann. Im Gegensatz zu Brain-Gaming Experimenten, bei denen der Spieler mit einem zusätzlichen Kommunikationskanal (der unabhängig von anderen normalen Kanälen des menschlichen neuromuskulären Systems ist) ausgestattet wird, stellen die Experimente an Patienten keine Anforderung an die ultra-schnelle Erkennung der Bewegungsabsicht; So kann das Steuersignal zur Ausführung einer simulierten Bewegung auch nach dem Auslösen der eigentlichen Phantombewegung, sogar nach deren Ausführung, erkannt werden. In Experimenten mit Feedback-Szenarien, die kompetitiven Spielen ähneln, können verschiedene Aspekte der ultraschnellen Erkennung einer Bewegungsintension mit Hilfe von Reaktionstests untersucht werden. Dieses eröffnet neue Perspektiven bei der Ausführung von Präventivmaßnahmen in zeitkritischen Anwendungen. Diese Dissertation, sowie die Entwicklung und Implementierung des Prototyps basiert auf fundierten Erkenntnissen der Neurophysiologie; Ein ausgewähltes Kapitel dieser Dissertation verschafft deshalb tieferen Einblick in die menschliche Neurophysiologie. Ferner, beschreibt ein gesondertes Kapitel dieser Dissertation die Entwicklung und Implementierung eines online Prototyps " des BBCI-Systems (Berliner Brain-Computer Interface) " in dessen Einzelkomponenten und der Gesamtheit aus dem Sichtpunkt der Softwaretechnik. Im Rahmen der Arbeit wurden mehrere Rückkopplungsmodule (Bio-Feedback), sowohl spielerischen Charakters, als auch zu Rehabilitationszwecken entwickelt, die hier im Detail vorgestellt werden. Mit besonderer Aufmerksamkeit wurde der Einfluss des online Bio-Feedbacks auf den Probanden untersucht.This dissertation aims to describe work carried out at the Fraunhofer Institute for Computer Architecture and Software Technology (FhG-FIRST), in particular at the research group for Intelligent Data Analysis (IDA), within the project "Brain-Computer Interface" (BCI). The goal of that project is to design and develop a hardware and software system that is capable of transforming, in real-time, electroencephalographic (EEG) signals (signals retrieved in a non-invasive way from surface electrodes placed over the user's head) into specific commands such that the user gains reliable control over a computer application or a device. In this dissertation, control over a computer application will be represented with "Brain-Gaming", i.e. simple computer games like Ping-Pong, Pacman or Tetris. To this end, substantial considerations were made on the design and realization of a communication interface and its corresponding protocol. A further important component of every control operation is its strategy and the control alphabet, i.e. the command set. For this purpose, several control strategies were developed, implemented and proved experimentally in different scenarios. The most important aspect of the design and development of these interfaces turned out to be their flexibility. Control over a device could include the steering and moving of a wheel-chair for paralyzed patients or the gaining of control over an arm or foot prosthesis for patients with amputated limbs. The latter was realized here as a computer-based simulation of a virtual limb (e.g. arm), such that it can be tested in future experiments on patients with amputated limbs. In contrast to the "Brain-Gaming" experiments, where the player was equipped with an additional communication channel (one that exists independently of normal communication channels of the human neuromuscular system), the experiments with patients did not require an ultra-fast recognition of the intended movement; i.e. the command signal for a simulated movement can be recognized after the phantom movement is initialized and performed. In experiments with feedback scenarios, which can be resembled as competitive games, several aspects of ultra-fast movement detection could be investigated with reaction tests. This opens new perspectives for the execution of preventive actions in time-critical applications. This dissertation, and the development and implementation of the prototype, is based on well-founded insights into human neurophysiology; one chapter will deal exclusively with these insights. Moreover, a special chapter of this dissertation will also describe the development and implementation of an online prototype of the BBCI system (Berlin Brain-Computer Interface) from the software engineering viewpoint. A number of bio-feedback modules, for gaming and for rehabilitation purposes, were developed within this work and will be presented in detail. Special attention was paid to the influence of the online bio-feedback on the user's behavior