Development of Olfactory display using solenoid valves controlled atomization for high concentration scent emission

Abstract

This paper reports on the introduction of using atomization technique controlled by high-speed switching solenoid valves to present smells. Even though atomization has been widely used to release smells in commercial aroma diffusers, intensity of the released odor cannot be controlled. In this paper, the high speed ON/OFF switching of the solenoid valves enables the capability to control odor intensity precisely and rapidly and the atomization enables emission of high concentration odors compared with odors generated from natural evaporation method. The proposed olfactory display was evaluated by using an odor sensing system composed of a quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) gas sensor. As a result, the reproducibility and the capability to present high concentration odors with adjustable intensity of the proposed olfactory display were confirmed.