Investigating the Influence of Odors Visuals Representations on the Sense of Smell, a pilot study.

This pilot study researches the representation of smells in Virtual Reality and its association with real smells. Olfactive stimuli in VR remains limited and difficult for effective use. We propose a work-around with a “synesthesia-like” approach (e.g. the smell of perfume is associated to a pink smoke / seeing a violet can elicit its odor; etc.). We present 2 studies (N=14) where: 1/ We compare 3 smell representations (smoke-based, image-based, visually physically-based) to know the best representation; and 2/ We compare good / bad real smells with good / bad virtual smells to know how the user associates them.