Smell Before You Date Edit
Smell +

(Warning : Partial Nudity)

The New York Times nails the description of this unique research: “Where Science and Design Collide, a Few Weird Sights to Behold.” Smell + by James Auger is an exploration of the potential of the sense of smell and its role in human interaction and behavior by applying contemporary scientific research in a range of domestic and social contexts such as dating, health, well-being and cooking. Smell +, which is funded by Philips Design, capitalizes on the fact that “each body emits a particular odor and pheromone formula.”

Research on mating and marriage rituals has demonstrated the importance of body odor in identifying genetically appropriate mates. For the Amazonian Desana and Batek Negrito of the Malay Peninsula, marriage is only allowed between individuals with different odors. This led to the researcher’s proposal for “a blind dating agency aimed at individuals wishing to meet a suitable partner for procreation.” where “Olfactory communication is given precedence over visual stimuli,” and can be employed to make successful matches.”

In the context of health, Hippocrates (4th Century BC) first suggested that illness could be diagnosed through smell emissions (body odor). Recently dogs have been used to locate cancerous cells in the human body. Smell + proposes exploring how smell could be applied as a diagnosis tool through training and calibration.