sense of smell
Enable an agent to recognise olfactory capacity and experience, assess what observations support about their state, and choose appropriate further observation or support.
Bundle → Layer → Finding → Questions Filled
6 bundles · 11 layers · 18 findings · 30 questions
Olfactory identity Defines the sensory capacity or episode being represented and its boundaries.
Capacity and episode
Separates a bearer's capacity from an occurrence of smelling.
Bearer and assessment target
Record whose smell is represented and whether the evidence concerns an episode, a capacity or a change.
- Does this record concern an olfactory capacity, one smell experience or a change relative to an earlier state? definition
- Whose observation or behavioural record supports attributing this capacity or episode to the organism? provenance
Sensory boundaries
Distinguishes olfaction from neighbouring sensory contributions.
Olfaction versus associated cues
Keep smell evidence separate from taste, irritation and contextual cues while allowing linked multisensory experiences.
- What supports interpreting the response as olfactory rather than a response to taste, irritation or a visible cue? boundary
- If the report concerns flavour, which part is attributed to smell and which parts remain assigned to neighbouring senses? boundary
Odorant access and exposure Captures how and under what conditions a candidate odour reaches the organism.
Delivery route
Records the route and presentation conditions of the stimulus.
Route and sampling
Represent orthonasal or retronasal access together with relevant sampling conditions.
- Was the candidate odour encountered through orthonasal smelling, retronasal access during eating or an unresolved combination? measurement
- Were presentation duration, delivery method and any nostril-specific conditions recorded? provenance
Exposure history
Records stimulus background and recent exposure relevant to interpretation.
Background and repetition
Track background odours, repeated presentations and intervals without assuming why perception changed.
- What background odours and preceding presentations could affect the current observation? measurement
- What comparison would help distinguish an exposure-related change from a persistent change in capacity? action
Olfactory performance Separates the tasks through which olfactory capacity is operationalised.
Detection and discrimination
Represents noticing an odour and distinguishing odours without requiring names.
Task-specific sensitivity
Retain task design, stimulus levels and uncertainty alongside observed performance.
- Was the organism asked to detect an odour against a blank or distinguish between odorant samples? definition
- What stimulus levels, trial counts, response criterion and chance performance define the result? measurement
Identification and comparability
Captures recognition and naming while preserving their interpretive limits.
Identification task demands
Record familiarity, language and response format before interpreting identification performance as evidence about sensory capacity.
- Did the task require free naming, choosing a label or matching an odour to a familiar source? measurement
- Are the language, odour familiarity, protocol and reference population compatible with the proposed comparison? boundary
Olfactory experience and meaning Represents what smelling is like and how the bearer interprets it.
Perceptual description
Records subjective intensity and quality without treating descriptors as chemical identification.
Quality, intensity and valence
Preserve the bearer's descriptions and scales separately from observer interpretations.
- How did the bearer describe the odour's quality, intensity and pleasantness, and using which scales or vocabulary? measurement
- Which statements are direct reports, and which are an observer's interpretations of behaviour? provenance
Recognition and association
Distinguishes source attribution and learned associations from the sensory report.
Perceived source and learned meaning
Represent familiarity, memories and attributed sources without treating association as source verification.
- What source, memory or significance does the bearer associate with the odour? definition
- What evidence independently supports the attributed source beyond resemblance or familiarity? provenance
Change and practical response Tracks altered smell and the decisions that depend on interpreting it.
Olfactory change
Represents the pattern, timing and evidential status of a change.
Change from baseline
Distinguish reduced detection, changed odour quality and experiences without an identified stimulus; retain reports and measured results separately.
- Relative to which baseline is smell reported or measured as reduced, absent, heightened or distorted? measurement
- What is known about onset, persistence, recurrence and the presence of an external stimulus? provenance
- Which causal explanations remain unresolved and belong to a linked assessment rather than this sensory-state record? boundary
Smell-dependent decisions
Connects olfactory evidence to affected activities and proportionate follow-up.
Functional reliance and next observation
Record which decisions depend on smell, what corroboration they require and whether further observation or human review is appropriate.
- Which activities, such as enjoying food, recognising environmental odours or performing an occupational task, are affected? measurement
- What additional observation, alternative cue or qualified human review is needed before acting on this smell report? action
- Does the proposed decision exceed what detecting or failing to detect this odour can establish? boundary
Evidence and external alignment What the world already says about this thing, gathered so the model can be checked against it.
Reported evidence
Findings from the breadth pass, kept separate from the structural claims.
Check these first
Recalled without web access and unsourced; every item is a lead to verify.
- Which of these check these first hold for the sense of sense of smell this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance
Kinds and varieties
Recalled without web access and unsourced; every item is a lead to verify.
- Which of these kinds and varieties hold for the sense of sense of smell this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance
Identifiers and schemes
Recalled without web access and unsourced; every item is a lead to verify.
- Which of these identifiers and schemes hold for the sense of sense of smell this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance
Real-world use
Recalled without web access and unsourced; every item is a lead to verify.
- Which of these real-world use hold for the sense of sense of smell this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance
Typical measurements
Recalled without web access and unsourced; every item is a lead to verify.
- Which of these typical measurements hold for the sense of sense of smell this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance
Failure modes and hazards
Recalled without web access and unsourced; every item is a lead to verify.
- Which of these failure modes and hazards hold for the sense of sense of smell this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance
Regional variation
Recalled without web access and unsourced; every item is a lead to verify.
- Which of these regional variation hold for the sense of sense of smell this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance
Neighbouring kinds and how to tell them apart
Recalled without web access and unsourced; every item is a lead to verify.
- Which of these neighbouring kinds and how to tell them apart hold for the sense of sense of smell this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance
Classifiers Filled
- Family
- Thing Registry
- Category
- Activities and processes
- Entry kind
- thing
- Plane
- ACT
- Domain
- ACT.ACT
- Other names and narrower kinds
- scent, Retronasal smell, Insect olfaction
What it is Filled
The sense of smell, or olfaction, is the sensory capacity to detect and discriminate chemical stimuli through olfactory receptors and neural processing, supporting odour perception and behaviour.
In scope
- Olfactory capacity attributed to an identified organism and assessed under specified conditions
- Episodes of odour detection, discrimination, identification and perceived intensity
- Orthonasal and retronasal routes and their contributions to reported experience
- Changes in olfactory performance or experience over time
- Evidence linking odour perception to context, learning and practical decisions
Out of scope
- Chemical composition and emission behaviour of odorant substances
- Detailed anatomy and molecular mechanisms of olfactory organs and pathways
- Taste and the complete multisensory experience of flavour
- Trigeminal sensations such as nasal irritation, cooling or burning considered independently
- Diagnosis and treatment of diseases associated with altered smell
- Electronic noses and chemical sensors that do not constitute organismal perception
Why it exists Filled
Enable an agent to recognise olfactory capacity and experience, assess what observations support about their state, and choose appropriate further observation or support.
Distinguishing features Filled
- Establish whether the record concerns an organism's sensory capacity or experience, rather than merely an airborne chemical concentration.
- Separate odour detection from naming: detecting that samples differ can support olfactory performance even when the organism cannot provide an odour label.
- For food-related reports, distinguish olfactory evidence associated with the retronasal route from taste and other contributors to flavour.
- Determine whether an apparent smell response could instead reflect irritation, cooling, visual cues or learned task cues.
- Distinguish capacity across repeated observations from the intensity or character of one reported smell episode.
What robots and AI may and may not do Filled
Must not
- Diagnose the cause of a specific person's loss of smell.
- Advise someone without a sense of smell to rely on it to detect gas leaks, smoke or spoiled food.
- Use scents to manipulate people in ways they have not been told about.
- Mock people for their body odour or for smell disorders.
Only with a human decision
- Any treatment decision for a persistent smell disorder.
May
- Explain how the sense of smell works, citing scientific sources.
- Advise people with a sudden loss of smell to see a clinician.
Moral aspects Filled
- People who lose their sense of smell face safety risks and lower quality of life that are often overlooked.
- Smell is tied to food, memory and social life, so its loss can affect mental health.
Who is affected
- People with smell disorders
- Older adults
- Households relying on smell to detect hazards
Owners Filled
Steward
Nobody: a human sense; each person answers for their own health.
Links to other meta-models Filled
parent
- Q160402 - registry parent class
What else AI and robots need to interact with it Filled
Identity and identifiers required Filled
- Vercy registry: vr.tr.sense-of-smell
- Wikidata: Q1541064 (https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1541064)
Direct properties not applicable Not applicable
- Sensory bearer: Identified organism; species; relevant reporting or behavioural capabilities
- Assessment target: Capacity; individual perceptual episode; change in capacity; change in experience
- Odorant access route: Orthonasal; retronasal; mixed; unspecified
- Detection threshold: Protocol-specific concentration or dilution step, with odorant, delivery conditions and detection criterion
- Odour discrimination performance: Correct responses per trials or protocol score, with task alternatives and chance level
- Odour identification performance: Correct responses per trials or protocol score, with language, familiarity and response format
- Perceived intensity and quality: Intensity on a named scale plus participant-provided or controlled-vocabulary quality descriptors
- Reported olfactory state: Usual for bearer; reduced; absent; heightened; distorted with stimulus; reported without identified stimulus; uncertain
- Temporal and exposure context: Onset, duration, recurrence, recent exposures, recovery intervals and comparison baseline
Plane ACT: no invented physical properties.
Recognition not applicable Not applicable
Not applicable
Olfactory capacity is not directly visible and must be assessed through reported experience or sensory testing.
Capabilities and actions required Filled
- Separate detection, discrimination, identification and subjective experience within an assessment record.
- Compare repeated observations when stimulus delivery, task and context are sufficiently compatible.
- Identify missing controls or contextual information before interpreting an apparent olfactory change.
- Represent smell contributions to food experience while linking taste and flavour to neighbouring models.
- Record uncertainty and route consequential interpretations to appropriate human review.
- Identify activities that rely on smell and document alternative cues when olfactory evidence is insufficient.
Hazards and failure modes required Filled
- Loss of smell can leave people unaware of smoke, gas leaks or spoiled food.
- Smell loss can be an early sign of illness that goes unnoticed.
Standards and interfaces required Filled
- ISO 5492, issued by the International Organization for Standardization, provides sensory analysis vocabulary relevant to olfaction and odor assessment.
Context of use required Filled
- The sense of smell supports everyday recognition of food, environmental odors and changes in familiar surroundings.
- It is assessed in sensory research and clinical settings when investigating changes in odor detection or discrimination.
Sources Filled
- Wikidata item Q1541064: sense of smell - identity and sense of the item
- Wikipedia: Sense of smell - general description of the item
Open questions
- Which existing Vercy perception or olfaction model, if any, already owns this concept and should be linked instead of duplicated?
- Which reference definitions best reconcile smell as sensory capacity, perceptual process and conscious experience, particularly across species?
- Which assessment protocols and reference populations support defensible comparisons across age, language, culture and species?
- What evidence and observation intervals are sufficient to distinguish temporary exposure effects from persistent olfactory change?
- How should conflicting subjective reports, behavioural results and stimulus measurements be represented without assigning unsupported diagnostic or causal labels?
Machine files
Provenance
thing registry research (pass 2) · unreviewed
Built from: models/things/publications/thing-q1541064/spec.json