SMELL SPACE: Mapping out the olfactory design space for novel interactions

Emanuela Maggioni, Robert Cobden, Dmitrijs Dmitrenko, Kasper Hornbæk, Marianna Obrist

Research output: Contribution to journalJournal articleResearchpeer-review

66 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The human sense of smell is powerful. However, the way we use smell as an interaction modality in human-computer interaction (HCI) is limited. We lack a common reference point to guide designers' choices when using smell. Here, we map out an olfactory design space to provide designers with such guidance. We identified four key design features: (i) chemical, (ii) emotional, (iii) spatial, and (iv) temporal. Each feature defines a building block for smell-based interaction design and is grounded in a review of the relevant scientific literature. We then demonstrate the design opportunities in three application cases. Each application (i.e., one desktop, two virtual reality implementations) highlights the design choices alongside the implementation and evaluation possibilities in using smell. We conclude by discussing how identifying those design features facilitates a healthy growth of this research domain and contributes to an intermediate-level knowledge space. Finally, we discuss further challenges the HCI community needs to tackle.

Original languageEnglish
Article number36
JournalACM Transactions on Computer-Human Interaction
Volume27
Issue number5
Number of pages26
ISSN1073-0516
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2020

Keywords

  • chemical sense
  • novel interactions
  • odour interfaces
  • olfactory design space
  • scent-based interaction design
  • Smell
  • smell-based applications
  • virtual reality applications

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