Indoor localisation using aroma fingerprints: A first sniff

Abstract

Electronic noses (eNoses) can detect and classify a large variety of smells. They are, in general, much more sensitive than the human nose. Could they identify different indoor locations based on the locations' characteristic combinations of airborne chemicals? We study in this paper how well location can be determined in an indoor environment using only measurements from an ion mobility spectrometry eNose and a K nearest neighbour (KNN) classifier. Based on the results of test with real-world data eNose-based localisation seems to have potential but there are several questions and issues that still have to be addressed. This paper provides therefore a discussion of questions and issues that have to be studied in the future, and proposes potential solutions.