InnoCIM is a micro research team specialized in modelling interactions between sensorial modalities, under the supervision of ENSAIA (Ecole Nationale Supérieure d’Agriculture et des Industries Alimentaires). InnoCIM’s project is to contribute to instrumentalizing sensory measurements.
The correlations between sensory measurements / instrumental measurements are increasingly more precise and today we can find electronic noses, electronic tongues or other captors on the market.
However, all these methods are quickly finding their limits because the human sensory response is systematically multi-sensorial.
Our senses are in fact not independent; they constantly interact to give us the richest representation of our environment that they possibly can. Not taking these interactions into account when developing new perception-measuring instruments means that we will never get a response that actually reflects this perception.
The originality of this approach is at the heart of an innovative issue: understanding the intermodal correspondence in man (studies in behavior and in fRMI) and looking for rules in populations so as to be able to model them. The existence of interactions between our senses has been demonstrated for a number of years, most notably in experimental psychology. Beyond these demonstrations, the interest lies in understanding these phenomena and studying them, not on an individual level, but on populations.
After being interested in the link between sight and touch (theses by Lynn Li Yuet Hee, “Modelling and simulating the evolution of textural properties during the ripening of food products” “Modélisation et simulation de l’évolution des propriétés texturales au cours de la maturation de produits alimentaires”, 2004 – 2007), today, InnoCIM is specialized in understanding the intermodal correspondences between color and odor. InnoCIM is the first team in France to develop this type of transdisciplinary research which associates physico-chemical, sensoriality, neuro-imaging and computer modelling. At a worldwide level, it is also the first to manage to model the links between the two senses: smell and sight (patent n° 12 55688, PCT n°PCT/EP2013/062388).
The research subjects are organized around 2 major lines:
- Studying the sociocultural impact on creating the link between odors and colors
- Enriching the knowledge about neuronal constructions of the link between olfactory and visual stimulations
These subjects are based on a strong transdisciplinarity that is imperative to cross-linking the analyses and enriching their interpretations in order to improve our knowledge in the different subject areas.
Decompartmentalizing research has been one of our proclaimed driving forces since this project was launched, and which has been demonstrated by the high-level collaborations on a national, European and international scale.
A PPPP approach: Partnership-Public-Private-Population
For several years our team has favored the transfer of knowledge toward:
- the private sector, with most notably the creation of a start-up, myrissi, laureate of the Ministry of Reasearch’s “Entreprise Innovante” competition in 2012 and “Coup de Cœur de la Région Lorraine” (Lorraine Region Favorite).
- the public sector through travelling experiments like those with “le Palais de la Découverte” in Paris (February to April 2012), The International Packaging Exhibition in Paris (November 2012), the Rencontres Internationales du Rosé in Marseille (March 2013) or Les moments d’Inventions in Nancy (May – June 2013).Morerover, in collaboration with the company “Xperiment”, new digital tools were adapted to a study of these interactions in large populations.
- This innovative experimental approach was instrumental in increasing communication about the project and public awareness of the original research developed in our university, as well as collecting a large quantity of experimental data to work not only at an individual level, but also at the level of entire populations.
Scientific collaborations
- at a national level:
Pr Jacques Felblinger et Dr Gabriella Hossu du laboratoire IADI (Imagerie Adaptive Diagnostique et Interventionnelle), unité INSERM U947 Université de Lorraine
Dr Hadrien Ceyte et Pr Philippe Perrin, directeur du laboratoire DevAH (Développement, Adaptation et handicap), Université de Lorraine
Pr Anne Boyer et Dr Sylvain Castagnos, LORIA équipe KIWI (Université de Lorraine)
Dr Moustafa BENSAFI, Centre de Neurosciences de Lyon (Lyon 1) - at an international level:
Dr Reine Barbar, Université Saint-Esprit de Kaslik, Liban
Pr. Charles Spence, Directeur du Crossmodal Research Laboratory, Université d'Oxford, England
Dr. Carmel Levitan, Occidental College, Los Angeles, USA
Andy Woods, société Xperiment, Suisse
Pr. Tien-Rein LEE et Dr. Vincent C. SUN, Department of Mass Communication, Chinese Culture University, Taipei, Taiwan