Sony scent sensor. (Sony Corp. develops perfume detector)

Cosmetics International, September, 1992

Japan's Sony Corp. claims it has developed a perfume sensor which is 100 times more sensitive than the human sense of smell, according to the Nihon Kogyo Shimbun, an industrial daily paper in Tokyo. The new sensor has succeeded in instantly distinguishing seven types of perfume with 100 per cent accuracy, said the report.

"The sensor can potentially distinguish several hundred different perfumes. We are confident that we can eventually refine it to be as sensitive as a dog's sense of smell," a Sony official was quoted as saying. However, the company has yet to decide how and when the technology will be marketed, whether it be in the toiletries, cosmetics or foodstuffs markets.