Wasabi fire alarm a lifesaver for the deaf (2008)

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-japan-wasabi-idUST29421020080318

by EndXA • 6 years ago

78 37 6 years ago

Beware with the elderly, as smell can also be a sense which diminishes with age, or as a comorbidity of conditions such as Parkinson's disease.

oh_sigh• 6 years ago

The power of wasabi isn't really the smell so much as it is a chemical interaction between allyl isothiocyanate and TRPA1. So in that sense it is more similar to the heat from a chili pepper than it is the aroma of something. I'm not positive, but I don't believe there is age related reduction in feelings of heat from capsaicin.

adrianmonk• 6 years ago

Long shot, but maybe you know the answer.

There is some chemical in certain shampoos that affects me more than most. The sensation is less like smelling and more like something is penetrating into my nose. It doesn't feel quite like burning or heat, but it's intense in a sort of similar way.

Sorry that's vague, but maybe this is a well-known thing.

gav• 6 years ago

It looks like they won a IG Nobel in 2011: https://www.improbable.com/ig-about/winners/#ig2011

And it's in the National Museum of Scotland: https://www.nms.ac.uk/explore-our-collections/stories/scienc...

Unfortunately I can't seem to find any evidence that they turned it into a real product.

polm23• 6 years ago

This old page makes it look like it was a real product, unclear how it was sold though. Also no product name, oddly...

https://web.archive.org/web/20160304171428/http://www.pixen-...

numpad0• 6 years ago

“臭気発生装置 WA-1型(Odor generation device Type WA-1)” seems to be the name. Listed on Rakuten for about $516 but not sure if it’s in stock or merely listed there.

Looks like it works as a wireless slave device for compatible smoke detectors, with one included in the kit.

jakelazaroff• 6 years ago

Information seems to be scant about how this has fared since the article was written. But it looks like it launched in 2009 and also won an Ig Nobel prize: https://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/a7253/our-favori...

RcouF1uZ4gsC• 6 years ago

Except for one person with a blocked nose, all woke up within two minutes of the smell reaching them.

Seems like a pretty bad failure mode, if it doesn’t work when people have a bad cold.

Also, the time delay is an issue. An audible alarm can wake people up much faster.

One thing they might be to use an sound based alarm, but that has enough low frequencies that it makes your skull resonate. A lot of dead people, may have conduction issues, and the sound can be transmitted through bone. For the people that have a neurological basis for deafness, even sounds that you cannot perceive if they resonate the right structures can make you feel uncomfortable.

lowdest• 6 years ago

Seems like a bed/pillow rumble pak is what you'd want for being asleep, and the common strobe light should suffice while awake.

pmiller2• 6 years ago

I've seen fire alarms that use very bright, flashing lights. Those might very well wake someone up from a dead sleep, but I'm not sure what the research says on them.

jagger27• 6 years ago

As someone who slept under one that would start flashing just before the sound started, oh yes, the light alone can wake you up. It's like a flash of lightning, or at least a really bright camera flash.

csunbird2• 6 years ago

Actually, smart watches could be very helpful in that case: If an alarm happens, the watch can vibrate very intensely to wake the user up.

truesy• 6 years ago

Reminds me of a story someone told me, about her grandparents who were both deaf. They had an alarm clock that had a string attached to their wrist, and would tug when they needed to wake up.

shard• 6 years ago

A few months ago I took a safety training course. In the course the instructor showed us a video of a voice fire alarm, which talked along with emitting a shrill sound. The reason was that some people, especially children, could not be awakened by the alarm sound, but will wake upon hearing a human voice. I have a mix of old and new fire alarms, and my new fire alarm does indeed talk in addition to emitting the alarm sound.

aaron6954• 6 years ago

It's well known you can't smell while you sleep so why is this a good idea?

(Other than the many many other reasons it's a bad idea)

egypturnash• 6 years ago

[citation needed]

And, from the article:

He said the Wasabi smoke detector was tested on 14 people, including four deaf people. Except for one person with a blocked nose, all woke up within two minutes of the smell reaching them.

aaron6954• 6 years ago

You can look for the wives tale online, but it is a wives tale based on truth

"Minimal Olfactory Perception During Sleep: Why Odor Alarms Will Not Work for Humans"

https://www.vinparleur.net/IMG/pdf/Why_odor_alarms_will_not_...

Johnny5553• 6 years ago

Given how ammonia smelling salts can be used to revive people that are unconscious, I can see how wasabi vapor could have the same effect

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smelling_salts#Usage

aaron6954• 6 years ago

"Smelling salts are used to arouse consciousness because the release of ammonia (NH3) gas that accompanies their use irritates the membranes of the nose and lungs, and thereby triggers an inhalation reflex. This reflex alters the pattern of breathing, resulting in improved respiratory flow rates and possibly alertness."

The article on Wasabi says smell, smelling salts are not actually olfactory.

andi999• 6 years ago

Not (always) beeing able to smell during sleep is precisely why we have smoke detectors.

walrus01• 6 years ago

I think I have seen alarm clock systems marketed for the fully deaf which are a vibrating thing you ziptie underneath your mattress/box spring.

voldacar• 6 years ago

This is the most clever thing I've seen posted on this site in a while. This was in 2008 and they said it would be sold within two years, so I assume that it wasn't a successful product? Or at least never made it to the West?

bobthepanda2• 6 years ago

One problem I don’t know how to solve for this, is that wasabia japonica is fairly expensive, hard to grow or find, and not shelf stable.

The vast majority of “wasabi” is horseradish and food coloring.

benzor• 6 years ago

They mention in the article that the smell is produced synthetically (presumably for this exact reason).

Johnny5553• 6 years ago

I dated a girl once with a hearing impairment -- she was deaf in one ear, impaired (mostly high frequency) in the other. She had a strobe light smoke detector in her room.

One night I stayed over and woke up to the fire alarm (roommate had burnt some popcorn). She slept right through the alarm and I had to wake her.

She said she'd upgrade to a "bed shaker" alarm. Not sure how well that worked out, we stopped dating shortly after (end of semester).

The Wasabi alarm sounds interesting, but if it's defeated by a blocked nose, maybe the bed shaker type is better.

ipsum2• 6 years ago

Wasabi is also a great way to relieve congestion.

csunbird2• 6 years ago

Is it like the nasal sprays where it gets less and less effective? If not, I might buy a jar :D

totetsu• 6 years ago

If you want your own wasabi spray, maybe for a weekend iot doorbell project.. here you are. https://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/B003XPHDXG/

Wasabi fire alarm a lifesaver for the deaf (2008)

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