Intel has created a new computer chip that can smell dangerous chemicals in drugs, explosives and other substances, potentially putting sniffer dogs out of work.
Researchers for Intel and Cornell University created a ‘neuromorphic’ chip called Loii that makes computers think like biological brains.
They crafted a circuit on the chip itself that mirrors the circuit found in the olfactory bulbs of a dog’s brain – that they use to process smells.
The Loihi chip can detect a specific odour on its first attempt – even if other smells are present, said Intel.
It could be used to detect smells humans create when they have certain diseases – as well as odours linked to drugs and environmental gasses.
Much like training sniffer dogs, the chip relies on artificial intelligence that is trained to identify individual smells so it can spot it again when re-exposed.
The chip itself processes information the same way as a mammal brain by using electrical signals to process different smells.
When someone smells something the molecules interact with nasal receptors that send signals to the brain’s olfactory bulb.
The brain then translates the signals to identify the specific smell – based on learning or previous experience with that scent.
‘We are developing neural algorithms on Loihi that mimic what happens in your brain when you smell something,’ Nabil Imam, senior research scientist in Intel’s Neuromorphic Computing Lab, said in a statement.
He said the work ‘demonstrates Loihi’s potential to provide important sensing capabilities that could benefit various industries.’
