A 'Digital Nose' for Cars

Hyundai Motor Co. has teamed up with a French startup to jointly develop a "digital nose" for cars.

Hyundai Motor Co. has teamed up with a French startup to jointly develop a sensor that informs the driver of the internal conditions of the vehicle by using digital olfactory information.

Hyundai Motor will invest 1.16 million euros in Aryballe Technologies, a French startup, to jointly develop digital olfactory sensor technology. Aryballe Technologies unveiled its “digital nose” technology at the CES in 2017. Last year, it introduced a commercialized product that can be used at industrial sites.

Hyundai Motor has strengthened collaboration with Aryballe Technologies because the technology is highly useful for the development of shared cars and smart cars, one of the core sectors of future cars. The technology will help maintain a comfortable internal environment of a car when the car sharing industry expands.

In particular, by identifying and analyzing odors, a car will be able to check problems on its own. For example, if the smell of vinegar is strong in a car, there is a high possibility that the battery has a problem. A smell of burning suggests problems in a tire or engine belt. Mustiness stems mostly from dirty air-conditioner filters, but mold may be present at spots that the driver cannot see.

As Hyundai has developed technology that analyzes and diagnoses a car's fine noise by using AI and big data, this digital nose technology will move it closer to developing a smart car that can easily identify problems on its own.

Meanwhile, Hyundai continues to expand alliances with various global companies, such as Croatia's Rimac which develops hyper electric vehicles, Israel's Mdigo which zeroes in on vehicle medical technologies, and Aurora, an American autonomous driving technology developer. In particular, the Korean automaker is actively investing in global startups such as Realtime Robotics which develops real-time danger recognition technology for autonomous vehicles, and Audioburst, a company that develops an AI-based infotainment system.

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