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

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.