# US 12,213,796 B2 · Aroma training using virtual reality

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- Number: US 12,213,796 B2
- Document ID: US12213796B2
- Status: Granted
- Kind: B2
- Application number: 17/843,442
- Filed: 2022-06-17
- Published: 2023-06-08
- Granted: 2025-02-04
- Earliest claimed: 2021-12-07
- Assignees: Accenture Global Solutions Limited
- Applicants: Accenture Global Solutions Limited
- Inventors: Derrick Anthony Martin, II; Alex M. Kass; Marc Carrel-Billiard; Alexandria Emily Pabst
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US12213796B2

## CPC

- A61B 5/4011: {Evaluating olfaction, i.e. sense of smell}
- G09B 19/00: Teaching not covered by other main groups of this subclass (teaching or practice apparatus for gun-aiming or gun-laying F41G3/26)
- A61B 5/7267: {involving training the classification device}
- G06F 3/011: {Arrangements for interaction with the human body, e.g. for user immersion in virtual reality (blind teaching G09B21/00)}
- G06F 3/015: {Input arrangements based on nervous system activity detection, e.g. brain waves [EEG] detection, electromyograms [EMG] detection, electrodermal response detection}
- A61H 2201/102: with aromatherapy
- G06F 3/04842: Selection of displayed objects or displayed text elements (G06F3/0482 takes precedence)
- A61B: DIAGNOSIS; SURGERY; IDENTIFICATION (usefulness limited to only animals A61D)
- G09B: EDUCATIONAL OR DEMONSTRATION APPLIANCES; APPLIANCES FOR TEACHING, OR COMMUNICATING WITH, THE BLIND, DEAF OR MUTE; MODELS; PLANETARIA; GLOBES; MAPS; DIAGRAMS (devices for psychotechnics or for testing reaction times A61B5/16; games, sports, amusements A63; projectors, projector screens G03B)
- G06F: ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING (computer systems based on specific computational models G06N)
- A61H: PHYSICAL THERAPY APPARATUS, e.g. DEVICES FOR LOCATING OR STIMULATING REFLEX POINTS IN THE BODY; ARTIFICIAL RESPIRATION; MASSAGE; BATHING DEVICES FOR SPECIAL THERAPEUTIC OR HYGIENIC PURPOSES OR SPECIFIC PARTS OF THE BODY (electrotherapy, magnetotherapy, radiation therapy or ultrasound therapy A61N)

## Abstract

Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on a computer storage medium, for implementing an olfaction training program by an online service executing on a server. A first object and an aroma of the first object is transmitted to the client device of a user that presents the first object in a virtual reality environment and disperses the first aroma. In response, the user interacts with the vital reality environment. The user response is transmitted back to the online service. The user response is stored in a database along with the first data and the first aroma. The online service determines a second object and an aroma of the second object based on the user response. The second object and the aroma of the second object is transmitted to the client device.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A computer-implemented method for aroma training, comprising:
generating training data sets for training a machine learning model to identify one of a plurality of objects to present after initially presenting another one of the plurality of objects to incrementally trigger increased user perception of aromas by users that are suffering from olfactory disfunction, the training data sets each including data indicating (i) another one of the plurality of objects that was initially presented to one of the users, (ii) one of the plurality of objects that were presented to the one of the users after initially presenting the another one of the plurality of objects, (iii) and electrical brain activity data of the one of the users that reflects an extent to which presentation of the aromas of the one of the plurality of objects and the another one of the plurality of objects created fluctuations in electrical activity of a brain of the one of the users when the one of the plurality of objects and the another one of the plurality of object were presented;
training the machine learning model in such a way that the aromas of the another one of the plurality of objects is followed in sequence by the aromas of the one of the plurality of objects, to predict objects from a plurality of objects based on the aromas;
transmitting, to a client device, a first data indicating a first object from the plurality of objects and instructions to disperse a first aroma associated with the first object for presentation to a user of the client device;
receiving, from the client device, a user response that was provided by the user in response to the presentation of the first object and the first aroma, the user response comprising electrical brain activity data of the user that reflects an extent to which an aroma of the first object was perceived;
storing the user response in a database as an instance of a training dataset for the user;
identifying, based on the user response, a second object from the plurality of objects using the trained machine learning model;
determining the aroma of the second object based on the electrical brain activity data of the one of the users; and
transmitting, to the client device, the second data indicating the second object and instructions to disperse the second aroma for presentation to the user of the client device.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein presenting the first and the second data by the client device comprises:
displaying the respective object on a display screen of a client device wherein the display screen can support virtual reality (VR);
dispersing the respective aroma associated to the respective object and displayed on the display screen of the client device using a aroma dispenser of the client device.

### Claim 3 (depends on 1)

The computer-implemented method of claim 1, comprising:
displaying a plurality of objects in the VR space generated by the client device;
dispersing the aroma associated to a particular object at an intensity level, wherein the intensity level is based on the user position with respect to the VR space and the distance of the user position in the VR space to the particular object in the VR space; and
changing the intensity level of the aroma based on the change in the user position in the VR space and change in the distance of the user position in the VR space to the particular object in the VR space;
receiving a response from the user indicating a user selection of an object in the VR space;
revealing the particular object to the user in the VR space and an indication of whether the object selected by the user is the same as the particular object.

### Claim 4 (depends on 3)

The computer-implemented method of claim 3, comprising:
displaying to the user in the VR space the plurality of objects, receiving a response from the user indicating a selection of an object from the plurality of objects, wherein, in response to the user selection of the object, dispersing the aroma associated to the object; and
receiving a response from the user indicating a selection of two objects from the plurality of objects; and in response to selecting two objects from the plurality of objects, displaying to the user whether the two selected obj ects have the same aroma.

### Claim 5 (depends on 4)

The computer-implemented method of claim 4, wherein the user response provided by the user in response to the presentation of the first object and the first aroma is collected using one or more electrodes of the client device affixed to the scalp of the user wherein the electrical activity of the brain identifies brain activity in response to the user smelling the first object.

### Claim 6 (depends on 1)

The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the user response provided by the user in response to the presentation of the first object and the first aroma based on the user experience comprises (1) an indication whether the user was able to perceive the first aroma, (2) an indication whether the user is able to associate the first object and the first aroma, and (3) a score provided by the user indicating the level of confidence the user has on the association of the first object and first aroma.

### Claim 7

A system for aroma training, comprising one or more processors and one or more non-transitory computer readable media that store instructions which, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform operations comprising:
generating training data sets for training a machine learning model to identify one of a plurality of objects to present after initially presenting another one of the plurality of objects to incrementally trigger increased user perception of aromas by users that are suffering from olfactory disfunction, the training data sets each including data indicating (i) another one of the plurality of objects that was initially presented to one of the users, (ii) one of the plurality of objects that were presented to the one of the users after initially presenting the another one of the plurality of objects, (iii) and electrical brain activity data of the one of the users that reflects an extent to which presentation of the aromas of the one object and the another one of the objects created fluctuations in electrical activity of a brain of the one of the users when the one of the plurality of object and the another one of the plurality of objects were presented;
training the machine learning model in such a way that the aromas of the another one of the plurality of objects is followed in sequence by the aromas of the one of the plurality of objects, to predict objects from the plurality of objects based on the aromas;
transmitting, to a client device, a first data indicating a first object from the plurality of objects and instructions to disperse a first aroma associated with the first object for presentation to a user of the client device;
receiving, from the client device, the user response that was provided by the user in response to the presentation of the first object and the first aroma, the user response comprising electrical brain activity data of the user that reflects an extent to which an aroma of the first object was perceived;
storing the user response in a database as an instance of a training dataset for the user;
identifying, based on the user response, a second object from the plurality of objects using the trained machine learning model;
determining a second aroma that is associated with the second object based on the electrical brain activity data of the one of the users;
transmitting, to the client device, the second data indicating the second object and instructions to disperse the second aroma for presentation to the user of the client device.

### Claim 8 (depends on 7)

The system of claim 7, wherein presenting the first and the second data by the client device comprises:
displaying the respective object on a display screen of a client device wherein the display screen can support virtual reality (VR); and
dispersing the respective aroma associated to the respective object and displayed on the display screen of the client device using an aroma dispenser of the client device.

### Claim 9 (depends on 7)

The system of claim 7, wherein the operations comprise:
displaying a plurality of objects in the VR space generated by the client device;
dispersing the aroma associated to a particular object at an intensity level, wherein the intensity level is based on the user position with respect to the VR space and the distance of the user position in the VR space to the particular object in the VR space;
changing the intensity level of the aroma based on the change in the user position in the VR space and change in the distance of the user position in the VR space to the particular object in the VR space;
receiving a response from the user indicating a user selection of an object in the VR space; and
revealing the particular object to the user in the VR space and an indication of whether the object selected by the user is the same as the particular object.

### Claim 10 (depends on 9)

The system of claim 9, wherein the operations comprise:
displaying to the user in the VR space the plurality of objects;
receiving a response from the user indicating a selection of an object from the plurality of objects,
wherein, in response to the user selection of an object, dispersing the aroma associated to the object;
receiving a response from the user indicating a selection of two objects from the plurality of objects; and
in response to selecting two objects from the plurality of objects, displaying to the user whether the two selected objects have the same aroma.

### Claim 11 (depends on 10)

The system of claim 10, wherein the user response provided by the user in response to the presentation of the first object and the first aroma is collected using one or more electrodes of the client device affixed to the scalp of the user wherein the electrical activity of the brain identifies brain activity in response to the user smelling the first object.

### Claim 12 (depends on 7)

The system of claim 7, wherein the user response provided by the user in response to the presentation of the first object and the first aroma based on the user experience comprises (1) an indication whether the user was able to perceive the first aroma, (2) an indication whether the user is able to associate the first object and the first aroma, and (3) a score provided by the user indicating the level of confidence the user has on the association of the first object and first aroma.

### Claim 13

A non-transitory computer readable medium storing instructions that, when executed by one or more data processing apparatus, cause the one or more data processing apparatus to perform operations comprising:
generating training data sets for training a machine learning model to identify one of a plurality of objects to present after initially presenting another one of the plurality of objects to incrementally trigger increased user perception of aromas by users that are suffering from olfactory disfunction, the training data sets each including data indicating (i) another one of the plurality of objects that was initially presented to one of the users, (ii) one of the objects that were presented to the one of the users after initially presenting the another one of the plurality of objects, (iii) and electrical brain activity data of the one of the users that reflects an extent to which presentation of the aromas of the one of the plurality of objects and the another one of the objects created fluctuations in electrical activity of a brain of the one of the users when the one object and the another object were presented;
training the machine learning model in such a way that the aromas of the another one of the plurality of objects is followed in sequence by the aromas of the one of the objects, to predict objects from a plurality of objects based on the aromas:
transmitting, to a client device, a first data indicating a first object from the plurality of objects and instructions to disperse a first aroma associated with the first object for presentation to a user of the client device;
receiving, from the client device, a user response that was provided by the user in response to the presentation of the first object and the first aroma, the user response comprising electrical brain activity data of the user that reflects an extent to which an aroma of the first object was perceived;
storing the user response in a database as an instance of a training dataset for the user;
identifying, based on the user response, a second object from the plurality of objects using the trained machine learning model;
determining a second aroma that is associated with the second object based on the electrical brain activity data of the one of the users; transmitting, to the client device, the second data indicating the second object and instructions to disperse the second aroma for presentation to the user of the client device.

### Claim 14 (depends on 13)

The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 13, wherein presenting the first and the second data by the client device comprises:
displaying the respective object on a display screen of a client device wherein the display screen can support virtual reality (VR); and
dispersing the respective aroma associated to the respective object and displayed on the display screen of the client device using an aroma dispenser of the client device.

### Claim 15 (depends on 13)

The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 13, wherein the operations comprise:
displaying a plurality of objects in the VR space generated by the client device;
dispersing the aroma associated to a particular object at an intensity level, wherein the intensity level is based on the user position with respect to the VR space and the distance of the user position in the VR space to the particular object in the VR space;
changing the intensity level of the aroma based on the change in the user position in the VR space and change in the distance of the user position in the VR space to the particular object in the VR space;
receiving a response from the user indicating a user selection of an object in the VR space;
revealing the particular object to the user in the VR space and an indication of whether the object selected by the user is the same as the particular object.

### Claim 16 (depends on 15)

The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 15, wherein the operations comprise:
displaying to the user in the VR space the plurality of objects;
receiving a response from the user indicating a selection of an object from the plurality of objects,
wherein, in response to the user selection of an object, dispersing the aroma associated to the object;
receiving a response from the user indicating a selection of two objects from the plurality of objects; and
in response to selecting two objects from the plurality of objects, displaying to the user whether the two selected objects have the same aroma.