Israeli researchers develop tech that can distinguish different stimuli

The advancement was inspired by nature.

By YVETTE J. DEANE
Professor Hossam Haick. (photo credit: TECHNION SPOKESPERSON'S OFFICE)
Professor Hossam Haick.
(photo credit: TECHNION SPOKESPERSON'S OFFICE)
Technion researchers developed an artificial intelligence that can identify and distinguish different stimuli. Until recently, computers and robots were only able to focus on one type of stimuli, for instance taste or smell.
This singe device can detect physical and chemical stimuli – temperature, humidity, light and volatile organic particles. The smart sensor uses a unique ink that the research team created. The advantage of this ink is can be produced at a low price and therefore can be produced easily in large quantities.
“Today, there is significant demand for multi-purpose sensing systems for specific purposes,” said Prof. Hossam Haick, who led the  Technion’s Wolfson Faculty of Chemical Engineering research team. “These systems have great potential as applications in medicine, counterterrorism, food safety, environmental monitoring, ‘The Internet of things’ and more. The problem is that existing technologies, such as gas chromatography, have many disadvantages, including high cost.”
The advancement was inspired by nature. 
“When we think about the human sensory system, we think of a whole that brings all the data to the brain in a format that it understands," the research team said. "That inspired our development, which is meant to concentrate in a different place all the environmental data we want to monitor. It is a multi-purpose sensory system that absorbs the stimuli and distinguishes among them.”
The system was developed by Haick and Dr. Min Zhang, who did his doctorate with Haick and now works for East China Normal University.