A study of apple flavor, banana flavor, and their chemical components was performed using an array of quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) gas sensors coated with sensing films such as lipids or stationary phase materials for gas chromatography (GC). The steady state sensor responses measured by a static measurement system were used to evaluate the characteristics of the different samples by principal component analysis (PCA) method. Since the array has shown good discrimination properties for fruit flavor components providing useful information, it was used to investigate the components that primarily contribute to the odor of the flavors. The results obtained from principal components analysis aided by sensory test were also used for an attempt to synthesize apple and banana flavors using only three of its odor components.

We developed an olfactory display to blend 8 component odors at any composition. The solenoid valves controlled by an algorithm with delta sigma modulation showed the sufficient capability. Then, we developed a system for presenting a movie together with scents. We actually made a movie with scents and evaluated it using questionnaire survey. It was found that the scene with smell attracted the experimental subjects' attention and, moreover, the contrast of the pleasant smell with the offensive one emphasized their attention. Furthermore, we established several guidelines for producing movies with scents.

Since the development of odor sensing system is required in many fields, we have been developing the system using QCM (Quartz Crystal Microbalance, 10 MHz AT-cut) array and neural-network pattern recognition. Since it is important to obtain stable sensor responses, a sensing film of lipid blended with PVC (polyvinyl chloride) was studied here. First, we studied the stability of various sensing films e. g. , phospholipids, GC liquid stationary phase materials and others in odor sensing system. It was found that most of lipids were stable, while PEG 200, octadecane and DBP were not stable materials. Second, we studied to obtain a stable QCM sensor using a sensing film blended with PVC. 4 plasticizers blended with PVC were systematically characterized, analyzing the pattern of QCM sensor responses by multivariate analysis. It was found that the pattern of DOPP was very different from that of PVC. Thus, we adopted DOPP as plasticizer and the stable sensor response was obtained using a lipid film blended with both PVC and DOPP. Finally, we studied the influence of sensing film materials on the stability of QCM sensors. It was found that the loss of sensing film mass after many vapor exposures depended upon the molecular weight.

In the food, beverage and cosmetic industry and so on, odor sensing systems instead of human sensory test are demanded. We have developed odor sensing systems using QCM (quartz crystal microbalance) sensor array and pattern recognition method. Since the properties of the sensors depend on the gas sorption characteristics of the sensing films coated on them, the optimum films according to target odors should be selected. In this study, we tried to select sensing films appropriate for discrimination of slightly different apple flavors. The examples of typical apple flavors were prepared blending 9 compounds. The sensing films were extracted from various kinds of materials such as lipid, stationary phase material of GC (gas chromatography) and cellulose. The selection method under the condition of the small number of measurements was studied. We analyzed the data of steady-state sensor responses in terms of the Euclidean distance, and the films appropriate for apple flavor discrimination were successfully selected.

Since odor sensing system is required in many fields, we have developed the system using QCM (Quartz Crystal Microbalance) sensor array and neural-network pattern recognition. In the present study, the mixed sensing films of two kinds of liquid-phase materials were characterized. As a result, it was found that the variety of sensing films were obtained by mixing two kinds of liquid-phase materials. The relative remnant of sensing film after repeated exposures was examined, and mixed films of two kinds of liquid-phase materials were found stable for the sensing materials.

A smell reproduction technique is useful in the field of virtual reality. We have developed the system called an odor recorder for reproducing the smell recorded using the odor sensing technique. We proposed the new type of the odor recorder using the inkjet devices together with a mesh heater. Droplets with tiny volume were forcibly evaporated to generate smell rapidly and reproducibly. Moreover, the mesh heater was directly connected to the sensors without plumbing tubes and the sensors were placed away from the wall of sensor cell. The recording time of the odor with high odor intensity became much shorter than that of the previous system. Then, the recipe of jasmine scent composed of benzyl acetate and Ylang Ylang was successfully determined using the proposed system.

Devices presenting audiovisual information are widespread, but few ones presenting olfactory information. We have developed a device called an olfactory display that presents odors to users by mixing multiple fragrances. Previously developed olfactory displays had the problem that the ejection volume of liquid perfume droplets was large and the dynamic range of the blending ratio was small. In this study, we used an inkjet device that ejects small droplets in order to expand the dynamic range of blending ratios to present a variety of scents. By finely controlling the back pressure using an electro-osmotic pump (EO pump) and adjusting the timing of EO pump and inkjet device, we succeeded in stabilizing the ejection of the inkjet device and we can have large dynamic range.

An olfactory display is a device to present smells. Temporal characteristics of three types of olfactory displays such as one based upon high-speed switching of solenoid valves, desktop-type one based on SAW atomizer and wearable-type one based on SAW atomizer were evaluated using three odorants with different volatilities. The sensory test revealed that the olfactory displays based on SAW atomizer had the presentation speeds faster than that of solenoid valves switching. Especially, the wearable one had an excellent temporal characteristic. These results largely depend on the difference in the odor delivery method. The data obtained in this study provides basic knowledge when we make olfactory contents.