An
international meeting on «Sensory Science and Perception» will be held on July
2002, in Barcelona, Spain. The event will bring together researchers and
developers from academy and industry in order to present the state of the art
of the fast evolving field of Sensory Science. Additionally, the Meeting
pretends to establish the institutional framework necessary for creating a
working community of Sensory Scientists. The program will have a scientific
track, with communications and round tables, especially designed to allow the
transference of knowledge between all the different disciplines that belong to
Sensory Science.
Background
The label
«Sensory Science» is used to subsume a set of related scientific and
technological disciplines that are concerned with the sensory reception of
sundry high quality consumer products, such as, among many others, wine,
perfumes, cars or computers.
The choice
of disciplines that are normally attributed to Sensory Science is still a
matter of discussion, even their scope could be defined by appealing to a
«virtual» pyramid whose vertices would be sensory analysis, neurophysiology,
psychology, computer engineering and analytic chemistry.
The problem
in identifying the sensory «sciences» may be traced back to the difficulty in
listing the phenomena, methods and technologies that Sensory Science should be
concerned with. One could include here issues in basic science, such as the
study of the sensory mechanisms that allow the detection and transduction of
the environmental information, all the way down to the perceptual
representations that are formed at a central level; applied sciences, such as
sensory analysis; technology, such as industrial engineering; and even
theoretical disciplines, such as thedevelopment of computational models of
sensory processing.
Lately,
there have been serious attempts to turn this «virtual» community of Sensory
Sciences into a real one. The reason behind these attempts is twofold. On the
one hand, the knowledge, methods and applications within Sensory Science have
reached a degree of excellence and development that each discipline can be
greatly benefited, and benefit at the same time, by interacting with other
sensory sciences. On the other hand, the consumer oriented industry is
progressively interested in providing products at the highest level of quality,
and this obviously includes taking care of its sensory qualities.
Rubes
Editorial has identified this situation and has decided to undertake the
enterprise of contributing to create an active community of sensory scientists.
As the different sensory sciences look forward to a rapidly developing 21st
century, Rubes Editorial has recognized the need to pause and reflect on how
the directions and priorities throughout the sensory sciences must be shaped by
the needs of the industry, in particular, and by the needs and expectations of
the society, in general.
The fact is
that during the tremendous period of expansion of the different sensory
sciences in the last twenty years, the sensory community has never lost sight
of its objectives, but the specific choices of new and expanded programs of
research and development will be made easier by the steady growth of fruitful
interactions among sensory scientists. If the interaction is established in a
common ground, Sensory Science can move toward a practice of interdisciplinary
development. Over time, this will allow the creation of a working community
with common goals and strategies, rather than a collection of isolated and
underdeveloped disciplines.
The aim of
Rubes Editorial is to contribute, in close collaboration with Freixenet, S.A.,
to the organization of a Sensory Science Meeting with the following objectives:
1. Provide
the place and means for bringing together the members of the ‘virtual’
community of sensory scientists.
2. Create a
forum of professional interaction in Sensory Science, with knowledge transfer
and discussion.
3. Promote
the development of interdisciplinary research or applied projects among sensory
scientists.
4. Define
and establish the institutional framework necessary to create a working
community of Sensory Science.
Preliminary Program
The Meeting
will cover the following areas:
A. Basic Science
In this
section, the Meeting will address the science underlying how humans recognize,
perceive and respond to tastes, odors and chemical substances. In other words,
the section will be concerned with the chain from chemical/physical properties
of food to sensory perception, including physiological, psychological and
cultural factors of sensory perception, and even physiological, psychological
and cultural factors of food choice. The section will also focus on other
issues such as genetics, age, gender, experience, and the environment influence
sensory capabilities.
B. Sensory analysis
The
objective of this area is to discuss sensory methods in general and
particularly advanced profiling methods are explored with regard to measuring
and understanding sensory quality, including studies of sensory panel training
in industrial and research projects. Other related interests are sensometrics
and qualimetrics methods as tools for analysis and interpretation of data to
enhance reliability and validity of sensory data, statistical approaches to
sensory data management, etc.
C. Engineering
The aim of
this area is to discuss, among other things, the development of
artificial
versions of entire perceptual organs; biologically-motivated perceptual models
and their implementation; biosensor technology; theoretical analysis of
perceptual architectures, etc.
D. Industrial applications
The purpose
of this area is to share concepts, methodologies, technologies, and tools for
the implementation of new sensory-focused manufacturing paradigms in the
industrial process. Other issues the discussion of how already implemented
sensory applications affect the routine design and production systems.
CONGRESS VENUE
Grup Freixenet facilities
Sant Sadurní d’Anoia
Barcelona, Spain
