--- title: "A Deodorant Maker is Using Machine Learning to Detect Your B.O." description: "## Underarmer" date: "2018-11-13" modified: "2018-11-13" authors: - name: "Jon Christian" job_title: "Executive Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/jonc" url: "https://futurism.com/deodorant-maker-machine-learning-detect" categories: - "Artificial Intelligence" - "Machine Learning" tags: - "axe" - "body odor" - "dove" - "unilever" --- # A Deodorant Maker is Using Machine Learning to Detect Your B.O. ![Unilever has teamed up with a squad of academics and electronics manufacturers to create a gadget that'll tell you if you have body odor.]() *\Image: Adobe Stock/Tag Hartman-Simkins\* ## Underarmer Unilever — that's the owner of prominent deodorant makers Axe and Dove — has teamed up with an all-star squad of academics and electronics manufacturers to create a machine learning-powered gadget that'll tell you if you have body odor. That's according to a [detailed story]() in the magazine *IEEE Spectrum* about Unilever's work with chipmaker Arm, electronics firm PragmatIC, and researchers at the University of Manchester. They aim to use some of the most advanced artificial intelligence (AI) and sensor technology in the world — to tell you whether you smell bad. ## Smell-O-Vision The gadget will take the form of a thin plastic strip, according to *IEEE*, with a tiny processor and an array of organic semiconductors that detect "gaseous analytes" — chemical signs, apparently, that you're giving off a nasty pong. And because those gaseous analytes are complex, the system will [employ machine learning]() to analyze the data and decide whether it's time for a fresh misting of the "hot chocolate" and "red peppercorn notes" from Axe's Dark Temptation XL Body Spray. ## Food Waste The technology wouldn't just provide relief for your family and coworkers. It could also potentially evaluate food freshness, according to *IEEE* — possibly cutting into the 1.3 billion tons of food that went to waste in 2016. And, to be fair, it also represents a step forward for AI and sensor technology, which have become adept at recognizing sights and sounds but struggled to categorize smells. **READ MORE:** [Arm Leads Project to Develop an Armpit-Sniffing Plastic AI Chip]() \[*IEEE Spectrum*\] ***More on smell technology: [FeelReal Brings Sense of Smell To Virtual Reality]()*** ## Author I'm responsible for editing, assigning, and scouting at Futurism, as well as occasionally writing for the site. That work involves keeping an eye on a wide range of narratives and issues, but over the past few years I've become increasingly interested in how AI is shaping the future of media, the web, and information itself. My day-to-day often involves collaborating on reporting and commentary projects bylined by my colleagues, but I try to find time to do my own reporting as well; stories I've broken for Futurism have been cited by publications including the New York Times, the Washington Post, the New Yorker, Wired, Ars Technica, New York Magazine, the Columbia Journalism Review, Bloomberg, and more. I grew up in Southern Vermont and attended Vanderbilt University. Prior to Futurism, I contributed to outlets including the Boston Globe, Vice, Wired, Slate, the Atlantic, the Outline, Ars Technica and more, and did stints in farming and food service. I currently live in Brooklyn, New York, and in my free time I enjoy pinball, word games, cycling, running, and music production. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()