The Olfactory Factor in AV Interiors

Aryballe Technology's unique sensors-on-a-chip solution aims to end the subjectivity of the human nose while neutralizing vehicle cabin odors.

Whether they're riding in an autonomous shuttle, a transit bus, a train or a rental car, passengers often face cabin air full of “mal odors” - bad smells - including cigarette and vape smoke, pungent food, blatant lack of personal hygiene and worse. Where the off-gassing of plastics and leather in new vehicles had been a minor issue in the past, the olfactory (science of smells) experience is increasingly a key differentiator in rider satisfaction as new mobility solutions emerge.

Ensuring a neutral-smelling passenger space is a growing focus of fleet owners and managers, particularly as autonomy becomes established in the commercial-transportation sector. Looking to a future of driverless shuttles, OEMs in the field (i.e., Cruise Automation, Waymo, Navya, Transdev, EasyMile and a host of players in China) are investigating olfaction-based sensing and notification technologies for integration into their AVs.