Olfoto

Abstract

We present a study into the use of smell for searching digital photo collections. Many people now have large photo libraries on their computers and effective search tools are needed. Smell has a strong link to memory and emotion so may be a good way to cue recall when searching. Our study compared text and smell based tagging. For the first stage we generated a set of smell and tag names from user descriptions of photos. Participants then used these to tag photos, returning two weeks later to answer questions on their photos. Results showed that participants could tag effectively with text labels, as this is a common and familiar task. Performance with smells was lower but participants performed significantly above chance, with some participants using smells well. This suggests that smell has potential. Results also showed that some smells were consistently identified and useful, but some were not and highlighted issues with smell delivery devices. We also discuss some practical issues of using smell for interaction.

SmellControl: The Study of Sense of Agency in Smell

“…Olfactory interfaces are covering many others application scenarios such as, gaming [66,70], rehabilitation [23] multimedia [15,64] and communication [79,98]. However, despite this increasing inclusion of smell in HCI and the increasingly considered importance of the SoA in interaction with technology, previous research studying agency in HCI has mainly focused on visual, auditory and haptic interfaces, therefore, the role of smell on the SoA has remained unexplored.…”

Beyond Multimedia Adaptation: Quality of Experience-Aware Multi-Sensorial Media Delivery

“…In the realm of information processing, we mention the study carried out by Brewster et al [16] in which they use olfactory data for multimedia content searching, browsing and retrieval, more specifically to aid in the search of digital photo collections. In their experiment, they compare the effects of using text-based tagging and smell-based tagging of digital photos by users to search and retrieve photos from a digital library.…”

“…networks co-exist and support network content delivery based on various technologies and protocol families including the IEEE 802.3 (Ethernet), IEEE 802.11 (WiFi), IEEE 802. 16 (WiMax), UMTS, LTE, etc. Noteworthy is also the very large diversity of devices, many of them mobile, which enable an increasing number of users to access the latest services over these networks.…”

Third Wave or Winter? The Past and Future of Smell in HCI

“…Yasuyuki Yanagida experimented with vortex generators to deliver smells at a distance [29,30]. Brewster et al experimented with designing smell-based interactions for photobooks [3], amongst others. Despite these exciting developments, scent interfaces went back to sleep in the mid-2000s, though seeing a steady -albeit small -rise in HCI publications until the next wave [5].…”