Odour-based smart detection of insect pests
Digital Odour Technologies' dot.core™ platform identifies insect pests by their species-specific volatile chemical signatures. A low-power sensor module reads odour signals, sends them wirelessly to cloud AI models, and triggers app alerts for presence and activity. Demonstrated for bed bugs, the platform can be trained for other household, structural, lawn and garden insects.
Overview
Digital Odour Technologies (dot) has developed dot.core™, an AI-powered digital scent intelligence platform that identifies insect pests from the species-specific volatile chemical signatures they release. Rather than relying on seeing, catching, or recognising a pest, the system detects its chemical profile in the air and reports whether a pest is present, where activity is occurring, and how it is changing. This enables earlier intervention, more targeted treatment, and reduced chemical overuse compared with conventional monitoring.
The platform is demonstrated for bed bugs and can be trained for new household, structural, lawn, and garden insects. The sensor module is designed to fit a standalone monitor, a smart trap, or a partner’s own device, needs no installation, and supports long unattended operation. One unit per room and app alerts with product guidance make it a practical route to earlier detection in homes, buildings, and outdoor settings.
Technical specifications
- A low-power sensor module captures odour signatures at points of pest activity and extracts signal features on-device.
- Standard wireless protocols send the data to dot.core™, where cloud AI models classify the pest using odour libraries built from volatile organic compound (VOC) reference data.
- Status updates are delivered to a companion or partner app, indicating pest presence or absence, location, and activity trends.
- The module can be embedded in a monitor, smart trap, or partner device and is designed for long, unattended operation.
- In bed bug validation, the platform achieved 96% sensitivity and 94% specificity.
- The same sensors, AI models, and data infrastructure can be transferred to new pest species by building VOC reference libraries and training classifiers.
Technology readiness level
The platform is commercially validated for bed bugs. A BugScents Sentry Pro trap is sold in Europe and the US, and a connected bed bug detector is planned for launch in early 2027. For new pest species, the technology is moving from feasibility to prototype: VOC reference libraries and classifiers must be built and validated before field performance can be claimed. The planned next stage is to select 3-4 priority insects, build libraries, and train classifiers with go/no-go targets above 90% sensitivity and specificity against realistic household and garden background odours. Subsequent phases include semi-field tests in test homes and gardens, consumer trials against conventional traps, and design-for-manufacture, battery-life, cybersecurity, and regulatory validation before commercial readiness.
About Digital Odour Technologies
Digital Odour Technologies, operating under the brand dot, is a technology company that develops artificial intelligence-powered digital scent intelligence solutions. The company's core technology, dot.core™, is a proprietary intelligence engine designed to capture, structure, and analyze chemical signals from volatile organic compounds (VOCs). By integrating biology, chemistry, data science, and AI, the platform transforms these airborne signatures into predictive, actionable intelligence. This system is built to identify patterns associated with pests, pathogens, and environmental risks, enabling users to move from reactive responses to proactive protection across sectors including agriculture, human health, animal health, and environmental monitoring. The technology bridges the gap between laboratory research and real-world deployment, using a combination of sensor arrays and machine learning to improve accuracy over time.
The company provides critical value to partners by enabling earlier detection of biological threats, which helps safeguard ecosystems, food systems, and public health. By offering end-to-end scientific services, including discovery, validation, and regulatory consultancy through its division Arctech Innovation, the company supports organizations in co-developing and deploying custom scent-detection solutions. With recent investment to scale its operations globally, the company aims to establish a foundational infrastructure for biological intelligence. Their work is grounded in scientific rigor, leveraging expertise in entomology and chemical ecology to deliver solutions that provide foresight rather than just detection, ultimately helping stakeholders reduce costs and manage risks before they escalate into crises.
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