Virtual Beer is on the Nose
Virtual Beer is on the Nose
August 3rd, 2007: CSIRO researchers have announced plans to pour a virtual glass of beer as well as develop a ‘Cybernose’ capable of smelling a good wine.
In a time of virtual mayhem, researchers from the CSIRO and Korea’s ETRI plan to pour a virtual glass of beer at SIGGRAPH, the world’s largest computer graphics conference next week.
The display is aimed at showcasing the team’s innovations with fluid special effects software, sorry to disappoint those expecting virtual beer kegs. The physics of bubble creation is actually the tricky part of the operation, “As you pour beer into a glass, you see bubbles appearing on what are called nucleation sites, where the glass isn’t quite smooth,” said Dr Mahesh Prakash, Fluid Researcher from the CSIRO.
Computer animation is a rapidly expanding industry worth US$55 billion and growing. The new software is targeted at providing a multiple use solution for fluid animation, unlike big Hollywood studios spending “vast sums on single-use solutions when they make blockbusters like ‘Poseidon’ and ‘The Perfect Storm’” said CSIRO Business and Commercialisation Manager, Andrew Dingjan.
This comes at the same time as the CSIRO announced it is joining a worldwide team to develop the CyberNose, an artificial nose capable of quantifying odours. “While the human nose is a wondrous thing, it has its limitations,” said the CSIRO’s Dr Stephen Trowell in an address to an Australian Wine Industry conference.
For wine lovers, part of enjoying a fine wine is soaking up the full bodied scent of a good vintage, which is why the CSIRO is identifying the wine industry as its prime target. A Cybernose that enables the wine industry to measure aroma and flavour would help winemakers to pick grapes at optimum ripeness and make it easier to make any desired style of wine.