The average wine drinker's ability to recognize off odors is as hard to predict as the quality of next year's harvest, but there is no getting around the fact that it matters. In recent years, the wine industry, seeking to increase consistency and consumer loyalty, has upped its investment in quality-control programs. The success of these programs has been difficult to gauge so far, but in the face of an expanding wine market, increased competition worldwide and a future likely to bear more grapes than ever before, there is no turning back. Scientists and engineers have been sniffing around the sensory market for years in an effort to replicate and mechanize the functions of the five senses. The noses analyze the headspace of individual samples using conducting polymer sensors.
Polymers expand when they contact vapors.
This swell causes an increase in electrical resistance, the level of which is measured to indicate concentrations of a given vapor. Most of the company's research efforts have been directed at the healthcare industry, but new clients include the United States Food and Drug Administration and Coca-Cola Company . Accompanying spreadsheet software interprets these characteristics on a Windows interface and recognizes common smell patterns. Abnormalities in the patterns indicate abnormalities, for better or for worse, in their subjects. Food spoilage or taint, process failures, bacterial infection and even heightened fertility levels in animals can all be detected through electronic olfaction.