Sense the scents is an interactive, collaborative olfactory installation that aims to explore how people collaboratively create a mixed smell and environment around them.

This project has been taken further from the ‘Marshmellow experiment’, a project that explores how smell may alter the flavour of a Marshmellow. It further explores how a collaborative smell can be created. However, Sense the scents will only be focused on the engaging interaction and participation an individual may aim to create a collaborative scent rather than the relationship between scents and flavour.

The installation is a light suspended structure with a floating table where the smell will be released. The centralised setting encourages an intimate shared space which enhances participation.

Illuminating of funnel glasses, air blowers, smell tubes is to invite people to interact with the installation and also, make people aware of their actions and other people actions

Once people get into the active space, the LED lights in the funnel glass will light up to make people realise that they are active in space. Also, the smell will be released and encourage people to come closer and smell it.

The LED light above the air blowers will blink a few seconds later. Once an air blower wrapped around with the pressure sensor is squeezed, a scented fog will be released from the e-cigarette and goes through the tubes into the cloche where each smell will be captured. at some point, the cloche will go up, and a mixed scent that has been activated by participants will be released. This is a moment of suspense followed by surprise where the participants will be in awe of the installation, performative in its nature.

For the next step, the idea of collaborative smell will be integrated into a multi-sensory social dining experience where people will be a part of the system, take control to collaboratively alter the flavour through sensory cues including smell, sound, lighting and also the environment.