Scent digitalization of cultural assets
SCENTINEL
Funded by: Ministero dell’Università e della Ricerca
Calls: The Belmont Forum and the Joint Programming Initiatives Connecting Climate Knowledge for Europe (JPI Climate) and Cultural Heritage and Global Change (JPI CH)
Start date: 2024-06-24 End date: 2027-06-23
Total Budget: EUR 2.397.082,25 INO share of the total budget: EUR 213.930,00
Scientific manager: and for INO is: Striova Jana
Organization/Institution/Company main assignee: Norwegian University of Science and Technology
Calls: The Belmont Forum and the Joint Programming Initiatives Connecting Climate Knowledge for Europe (JPI Climate) and Cultural Heritage and Global Change (JPI CH)
Start date: 2024-06-24 End date: 2027-06-23
Total Budget: EUR 2.397.082,25 INO share of the total budget: EUR 213.930,00
Scientific manager: and for INO is: Striova Jana
Organization/Institution/Company main assignee: Norwegian University of Science and Technology
other Organization/Institution/Company involved:
Institute of Information Theory and Automation of the ASCR
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (US)
Murins Startups (Latvia)
Research Centre of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts (Slovenia)
UNIVERSIDADE DE EVORA
UNIVERSITY COLLEGE LONDON
Universidade de Lisboa
University of Ljubljana (Slovenia)
Venetian Cluster (Italy)
other INO’s people involved: Benassi LauraPezzati Luca
Abstract: The project is aimed at preserving olfactory heritage at risk due to climate change, the 𝐒𝐂𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐥, Climate Changes and Scent Heritage: The Urgent Need for Capturing and Preserving Olfactory Landscapes in a Changing World. This initiative is funded by the Joint Programming Initiative on Cultural Heritage and Global Change (JPI CH), JPI Climate, and Belmont Forum with several local agencies, including the Research Council of Norway. SCENTinel leverages AI to identify, digitize, and reproduce endangered scents, ensuring they remain part of our cultural legacy for generations. Our AI-based technology will help us find replacements for unavailable or restricted formulation components, preserving the original olfactory experience. By creating a secure global platform for storing digital scent data, we aim to protect and share the rich tapestry of scents that define our cultural identity. Our interdisciplinary approach combines heritage studies, neuroscience, social sciences, chemistry, physics, chemical engineering, and AI to tackle this unique challenge.