The Future of Fragrance: Generation by Osmo Uses Innovative Olfactory Intelligence to Create Personalized Scents
Generation by Osmo is a new fragrance house powered by olfactory intelligence (OI), a technology that turns data into scent.
Crafting custom scents is typically a long and extensive process that can take months, but Osmo, the first company to digitize scent, is enabling brands and creators to turn concepts into scents within minutes.
The company’s new fragrance house, Generation, is powered by olfactory intelligence (OI), a technology that turns data into scent. Through OI, Generation brings together exclusive ingredients, advanced formulation tools, and real-world market intelligence, making it possible for brands and creators to create fragrances with more precision and creativity than ever before.
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“We see OI as a way to dramatically enhance creativity in scented product development, similar to when carpenters gained power tools,” says Alex Wiltschko, founder and CEO of Osmo. “Now, creators can spend less time on manual toil, allowing them to better optimize their products to meet consumer demand. OI also radically streamlines scented product creation and makes it more accessible and affordable to brands everywhere.”
We chatted with Wiltschko to learn more about how olfactory intelligence works and how his company is helping to shape the future of fragrance.
Generation brings together exclusive ingredients, advanced formulation tools, and real-world market intelligence to help creators and brands make bespoke scents.
What inspired the creation of Generation by Osmo?
As we’ve built out our team and succeeded in digitizing scent in the lab, we’ve finally taught computers how to smell with OI. That OI then helped us create new molecules which we’re actively selling to some of the largest companies in the world.
Generation is the next chapter for Osmo. It’s a culmination of all of that work, with a focus on bringing it to the masses. It was inspired by the desire to help brands harness our most powerful sense as a tool for expression and engagement. We’re making scented products for anyone, at scale.
The industry is shifting. The brands that embrace data-driven, AI-powered scented products will move faster, launch smarter, and create scents that are beautiful and are built to perform. Fragrance is about to move at the speed of culture, and we’re leading the charge.
How does Olfactory Intelligence technology create custom scents?
Each step is similar to how images are stored and recreated. You take a picture with a camera, download the image, sharpen or edit it, and then send it to a printer. The same thing happens with OI, but for scent. We capture the scent with a laboratory device called a GCMS, which is about the size of a dishwasher. It breaks down a scent into individual molecules, just like how a camera breaks down an image into pixels.
Then, we convert this raw data into a scent encoding, which we upload to the cloud. We then decode this into instructions for our scent printer, which is about the size of a refrigerator. The scent printer comes to life, and combines a set of individual scent ingredients into the final scent, which is a perfect match to the original.
Generation has launched three exclusive fragrance ingredients being leveraged by some of the world’s leading beauty and personal care brands to offer new olfactive experiences that weren’t possible before.
Is each scent unique?
Yes! The benefit of working with OI is we can quantify each formula’s unique “address,” helping track and position scents strategically. We can also help spot threats, like dupes, and identify opportunities so brands can launch scented products with a clear, competitive edge.
What ingredients are used in the fragrances?
Generation works with both existing ingredients and entirely new molecules that have never been smelled before. These new molecules are more sustainable and solve problems that existing materials can’t, such as toxicity and safety to humans and the planet. This is done at 10x the rate, unlocking new creative possibilities while keeping costs and timelines competitive.
We have already introduced three new fragrance ingredients: Glossine, Fractaline, Quasarine. Glossine is a vibrant, floral scent reminiscent of jasmine and performs well on dry fabrics, which is a rare quality.
Fractaline is a long-lasting ingredient that exhibits either a floral/violet or citrus/ginger scent depending on the surrounding composition. At a lower concentration, it increases the strength of a fragrance without imposing.
Quasarine offers a fresh and delicate jasmine aroma to illuminate a fragrance. It is long-lasting and the most intense of the three, making it instantly noticeable from the moment it’s applied.
Beyond new ingredients, Generation is built to streamline the entire fragrance development process, helping brands move from idea to market more efficiently while staying ahead of trends.
What products do you make and who do you create them for?
We can work with brands across a number of industries to create fragrance formulations for all kinds of products. Anything from perfumes to laundry products and even environmental diffusers, can be made with Generation’s OI. We work with established brands, emerging brands, and creators who had never even considered a scented product as a possibility before.
Whether you’re expanding your portfolio or exploring scent for the first time, we’re here to help you build something unforgettable. With Generation, bespoke fragrance and scented products are no longer a luxury reserved for a few. They’re a strategic, expressive medium for brands everywhere.
How long does the scent-creation process take?
Timelines depend on the complexity of the scent and the number of iterations, but we deliver initial scent directions within a few days. Our upcoming factory will be able to robotically produce a new batch of fragrance every 60 seconds, enabling fast and scalable production.
Built by a multidisciplinary team of experts, Generation offers brands the tools to create cleaner, more sustainable fragrances that meet modern consumer demands while pushing creative boundaries.
What about sustainability and eco-friendly options?
Absolutely! Sustainability in scented products starts with sustainable ingredients. At Generation, we use OI to design and select new ingredients that are safer and more sustainable than anything discovered before. With OI, we can also fast-track discovery. Faster discovery means less waste, as traditional ingredient development involves years of trial and error. We are able to design molecules to be non-toxic, biodegradable, free from harmful allergens or pollutants, and we never use animal testing.
For more information about Generation by Osmo, visit their website. Follow on Instagram: @generationbyosmo
[Photos courtesy of Osmo]
Kamala Kirk is a University of Southern California graduate and has been an editor/writer for more than a decade. She has written for E! Online, Total Beauty, TravelAge West, Malibu Times Magazine, and many more. She resides in Los Angeles and is a proud pug mom. Follow her on Instagram: @kamalakirk