Enhancing user interaction with olfactory experiences

Summary of talk: “Human beings explore and interact with the external world through the perception that they get by touching, looking at, listening to, tasting and smelling it.

Even if this exploration is essential to identify opportunities and dangers, today it is also used to investigate, understand and enjoy objects that surround us and to use them to manage our life, have fun, increase our knowledge, relax, etc.
To date, interaction is based primarily on sight – through images, videos, texts and symbols -, on hearing – through audio information, voice commands, and on touch – through elements to touch, rotate, push, handle to write and draw, etc. Very little interaction, however, is based on smell, a sense considered very difficultly to manage and to use for creating more pleasant and effective experiences.
Yet, olfactory experiences, if appropriately designed and implemented, can make the interaction between users and objects more engaging and effective on sub-conscious levels and long-term memory.
This presentation will focus on examples of olfactory experiences integrated in applications for cultural and learning purposes, and for entertainment and wellness, and effectively used to enhance the user interaction and experience.”