A Wider Net

The effect of scent on an immersive experience has always intrigued me. You can’t deny that odor profoundly impacts experience. If you have ever tried to enjoy red wine with a stuffy nose then you know what I mean. Also, what is a whale-watch without the salty fishy sea air? And what would the Indy 500 be without the stink-blend of gasoline, sunscreen, and b.o.? Ok, not the best example. Consider instead the powerful “new car smell”, the drug-like aroma of chocolate, or the apparently irresistble teen body sprays.

Using scent to enhance audience experience has been around for some time. Back in the 1960’s, Smell-O-Vision was introduced into motion picture theaters, offering 30 different scent cues. John Waters released the film Polyester in 1982 with Odorama - a set of scratch-and-sniff cards that were manipulated by the audience on cue. Retailers and hotels have discovered the positive effects of scent on the customer experience. One major furniture retailer discovered that the smell of leather helped sell leather furniture.
The trick with scents is to deliver them accurately to an audience on cue. With this ability you can enhance any experience including Broadway shows, movies, shopping environments, attractions, and even browsing the web. At one point a bold startup called Digiscents invented a scent “printer” that you could hook up to your PC and deliver scents triggered by special codes on web pages. I believe they are in research mode now, having replaced their product website with a blog.
One of our Innovation Day participants, ScentAir, has a tried-and-true method of delivering scents on cue using their unique ScentWave and ScentPOP scent machines. They were recently covered in Time Magazine - an article well worth the read if you’re interested in the use of scent in retail and event experiences. It’s easy to write this off as a superfluous gimmick, but if you read through the Time article, the information at the Digiscents Blog, and the Scentair website, you will probably agree that the science is valid, compelling, and worth a try.