Method and system for determining olfactory perception signature

Abstract

A method of determining olfactory perception signature of a subject is disclosed. The method comprises: providing the subject with a plurality of physical odorant samples for sniffing; for each sniffed odorant sample, presenting to the subject, by a user interface, a set of odorant descriptors and a respective set of rating controls, and receiving ratings entered by the subject using the rating controls. Each rating is indicative of a descriptiveness of a respective odorant descriptor for the odorant sample, thereby obtaining a set of descriptiveness levels for the odorant sample. The method also comprises calculating, by a computer, relations between pairs of sets of descriptiveness levels corresponding to pairs of odorant samples, to provide a vector of relations, wherein the vector represents the olfactory perception signature of the subject.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A client system for communicating in a matching service for matching members of an online community, the client system comprising:
 a transceiver arranged to receive and transmit information on a communication network; and   a processor arranged to communicate with the transceiver, and perform code instructions, comprising:   code instructions for displaying a set of rating controls on a user interface;   code instructions for receiving sniffing ratings entered by a member using said rating controls;   code instructions for calculating an olfactory perception signature of the member based on said ratings;   code instructions for transmitting said olfactory perception signature to a server computer; and   code instructions for receiving from said server computer an indication whether or not a matching member has been found in a database, based on said transmitted olfactory perception signature.   
     
     
         2 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein said processor is arranged to display on said user interface a set of odorant descriptors, respectively corresponding to said set of rating controls, wherein said sniffing ratings are descriptiveness levels corresponding to said odorant descriptors. 
     
     
         3 . The system of  claim 2 , wherein said processor is arranged to display said set of odorant descriptors and said a set of rating controls a plurality of times, and to receive said sniffing ratings a respective plurality of times, thereby to obtain a plurality of sets of descriptiveness levels, wherein said calculating said olfactory perception signature comprises calculating relations between pairs of sets of descriptiveness levels. 
     
     
         4 . The system of  claim 3 , wherein said calculation of said relations comprises, for each pair of sets, averaging squared differences between descriptiveness levels of a first set pair, and respective descriptiveness levels of a second set of said pair. 
     
     
         5 . The system of  claim 4 , wherein said code instructions comprise code instructions for determining and displaying likelihood for successful relationship between the member and the matching member. 
     
     
         6 . A server system for communicating in a matching service for matching members of an online community, the server system comprising:
 a transceiver arranged to receive and transmit information on a communication network; and   a processor arranged to communicate with the transceiver, and perform code instructions, comprising:   code instructions for receiving from a client computer an olfactory perception signature of a member;   code instructions for accessing a computer readable database having a plurality of database olfactory perception signatures of other members of the community;   code instructions for searching said database for a database olfactory perception signature that is similar to said olfactory perception signature of the member; and   code instructions for transmitting to said client computer an indication that a similar database olfactory perception signature has been found.   
     
     
         7 . The system of  claim 6 , wherein said code instructions for searching said database employ comparison by a metric selected from the group consisting of statistical correlation, Euclidian distance, Log-Euclidean distance, Angular distance, significance test distance, Chebyshev distance, Manhattan distance, and Minkowski distance. 
     
     
         8 . A method of determining personality trait of a subject, the method comprising:
 providing the subject with a plurality of physical odorant samples for sniffing;   for each sniffed odorant sample, presenting to the subject, by a user interface, a set of odorant descriptors and a respective set of rating controls, and receiving ratings entered by the subject using said rating controls, each rating being indicative of a descriptiveness of a respective odorant descriptor for said odorant sample, thereby obtaining a set of descriptiveness levels for said odorant sample; and   calculating, by a computer, relations between pairs of sets of descriptiveness levels corresponding to pairs of odorant samples, to provide a vector of relations, said vector representing the olfactory perception signature of the subject;   accessing a computer readable database, each entry of said database having a database olfactory perception signature and annotation information pertaining to a personality trait;   searching said database for a database olfactory perception signature that is similar to said olfactory perception signature of the subject;   extracting from the database annotation information associated with said similar database olfactory perception signature; and   generating an output indicative of a respective personality trait.   
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 8 , comprising determining a psychological condition of the subject based on said extracted annotation information. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein each of at least some annotation information of said database is openness to experience. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein each of at least some annotation information of said database is conscientiousness. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein each of at least some annotation information of said database is extraversion. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein each of at least some annotation information of said database is agreeableness. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein each of at least some annotation information of said database is neuroticism. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 8 , further comprising predicting an outcome of a psychological test for the subject, based on said extracted annotation information.