The 'Bouquet' by ECAL/Workshop is a synthetic olfactory device that in short turns color into smell.
The cone-shaped device detects the color it is pointed at using optical sensors and provides the user with a corresponding scent assigned to that color by its creators. Presented as an interactive display, the device works "as an extension of the user’s olfactory senses in order to deliver a different sort of augmented reality." This synthetic olfactory device was created by Niklas Roy and students in their third year of Media and Interaction Design at ECAL. Roy challenged the students to create never-before-seen communication devices, and within a week they had made the Bouquet.
This device would translate well into the children's toy market as infants are learning to associate color with language and memory.
Synthetic Olfactory Devices
The 'Bouquet' is a Device That Lets Users Smell Color
Trend Themes
1. Color-scent Synthesis - The 'Bouquet' device demonstrates the trend of synthesizing scents based on colors, providing opportunities for creating unique multi-sensory experiences.
2. Augmented Olfactory Reality - The use of synthetic olfactory devices like the 'Bouquet' opens up possibilities for augmenting reality by enhancing the sense of smell, enabling innovative applications in entertainment, gaming, and immersive experiences.
3. Multisensory Interfaces - The development of olfactory devices that interact with colors reflects a trend in creating multisensory interfaces, presenting opportunities for integrating scent-based interactions in various industries such as marketing, retail, and hospitality.
Industry Implications
1. Children's Toys - The color-to-scent translation feature of the 'Bouquet' device presents disruptive innovation opportunities in the children's toy industry, offering a unique interactive and educational experience for infants.
2. Entertainment - Incorporating synthetic olfactory devices in the entertainment industry can revolutionize storytelling by providing immersive and multi-sensory experiences that engage the audience's sense of smell, creating new dimensions of engagement.
3. Marketing and Retail - The integration of color-scent synthesis technology in marketing and retail sectors can enable businesses to create captivating multisensory experiences, enhancing product branding, customer engagement, and brand recognition.