the good olfactory
Although we live in an age where the visual still seems to dominate most of our other senses, shifts are taking place towards a more holistic usage of our sensory apparatus. It is fascinating to see what kind of effects this might have on our behaviour and ways of interaction with the world around us, if we take it a few steps further. For example, how might the use of smell change our world if it becomes a feature addressed explicitly and intelligently?
As a matter of fact, aromatherapy gets another boost, as scientists from Tel Aviv University have discovered a possible biological link between (loss of) smell and depression (see article).
“Our scientific findings suggest that women who are depressed are also losing their sense of smell, and may overcompensate by using more perfume,” explains researcher Prof. Yehuda Shoenfeld, […] “We also believe that depression has biological roots and may be an immune system response to certain physiological cues.”
While ‘moodsprays’ are already in use in shopping centres to stimulate people’s ‘buying mood’, also other applications are making their way into mainstream use. Happiness inducing fragrances, i.e. perfumes with alleged anti-depressant bio-nutrients, such as Smiley (an Ora-ïto design), are appearing on the shelves. Writing utensils producer Pentel puts smell into its pencils in order to enhance brain performance / mental capacity to people while studying. Also in computing, digital scent technologies are making headways (think: smell across the internet).
As smell offers another pathway into people’s experience, one that appears to run deep (e.g. smell is among the most powerful pathways into our memories), it would be interesting to explore how it could be used to bring future scenarios to life in new ways.
