Paper Example on Smell Based Technology in Human Computer Interface

Introduction

When interacting with technology, the senses that we call upon are quite limited. Some of the most common senses that we use include vision, hearing and increasingly touch. Smell and taste have, however, been the least favorite when developing new technology. Part of this can be attributed to the fact that there has been a huge challenge for people to understand their multisensory experiences in human-computer interface. By understanding the manner in which our senses get and process information and their relationships, it is possible to create better experiences with human-technology interactions.

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Chronic stress has been indicated to influence people's physical as well as their mental health. Stress is related to many other problems including depression, HIV, heart diseases, tumor progression and many other (Alaoui-Ismaili, Vernet-Maury , Dittmar , Delhomme , Chanel ,1997b). Effects of smells on stress have been shown in humans as well as humans. This has indicated that inhaling specific odorants can counter the negative effects that stress has. Using the smell based technology on the human-computer interface, management of stress can be done (Spence, 2015). The concept would be to have a system that is able to detect various kinds and degrees of stress and corresponding counter-stress odorants would be activated to give the individual some kind of relief.

According to recent research, a group of individuals was exposed for 6 days to some pleasant odor (Abriat , Barkat , Bensafi , Rouby , Fanchon 2007). At the end of the exposure, they were exposed to a familiar pleasant smell. A control group was exposed to non-scented control stimuli. Both the stress level and the moods states for individuals in either group were assessed and recorded before and at the end of the exposure period (Abriat , Barkat , Bensafi , Rouby , Fanchon 2007). The results of the study showed that at the second exposure to the "exposure odor", stress reduced in the group that had been exposed to the pleasant odor (Fukada , Kaidoh , Ito , Yano , Hayashibara , Watanabe 2007). The findings in this research form a basis for the technological development of a smell-based human-computer interface that could help in effective stress management.

In order to make the smell-based interface to manage stress, there has to be a good way through which stress is detected. Since can be detected by a number of physiological changes, these physiological changes would act as the signals that will be feed unto the smell interface to trigger corresponding counter odors prescribed for the stress factor detected. A great accessory to build such technology could be a wearable jewelry which has sensors to trace the detected stress symptoms and generate a corresponding smell to make the user more relaxed and calmer. That way, the smart wearable jewelry will help users to automatically and effectively manage stress.

Conclusion

Researchers have discovered evidence for an influence of exposure to a familiar type of odor on stress. In addition, there is an associative learning that links the exposure odor with some specific pleasant feeling and relaxation. This is true since our ecological situation involves olfactory stimuli among other pes of stimuli (Cain , Johnson , 1978). According to the researchers, there is a significant impact on stress and physiology, indicating that smell is a prominent driver of the observations made (Bensafi , Rouby , Farget , Bertrand , Vigouroux , Holley 2002). As such, exposure to a familiar pleasant smell has an impact on the stress and physiology of individuals. This presents a platform whereby smell based human-computer interface can be used to manage stress effectively. The smart wearable jewelry needs to adhere to the principles of design. Some of these include user sympathy and user experience. With further research, there is a likelihood for more perspectives on olfaction on quality of life and healthy living.

References

Abriat A., Barkat S., Bensafi M., Rouby C., Fanchon C. (2007). Psychological and physiological evaluation of emotional effects of a perfume in menopausal women. Int. J. Cosmet. Sci. 29 399-408 10.1111/j.1468-2494.2007.00398.

Alaoui-Ismaili O., Vernet-Maury E., Dittmar A., Delhomme G., Chanel J. (1997b). Odor hedonics: connection with emotional response estimated by autonomic parameters. Chem. Senses 22 237-248 10.1093/chemse/22.3.237 [PubMed]

Spence, C. Multisensory flavor perception. Cell 161, 1 (2015), 24-35.

Narumi, T., Nishizaka, S., Kajinami, T., Tanikawa, T., and Hirose, M. Augmented reality flavors: Gustatory display based on edible marker and cross-modal interaction. Proc. of CHI 2011. 93-102.

Cain W. S., Johnson F. , Jr (1978). Lability of odor pleasantness: influence of mere exposure.Perception 7 459-465 10.1068/p070459 [PubMed] [ HYPERLINK "https://dx.doi.org/10.1068%2Fp070459" \t "pmc_ext" CrossRef]

Bensafi M., Rouby C., Farget V., Bertrand B., Vigouroux M., Holley A. (2002). Psychophysiological correlates of affects in human olfaction. Neurophysiol. Clin. 32 326-332 10.1016/S0987-7053(02)00339-8 [PubMed]

Fukada M., Kaidoh T., Ito A., Yano T., Hayashibara C., Watanabe T. (2007). "Green odor" inhalation reduces the skin-barrier disruption induced by chronic restraint stress in rats: physiological and histological examinations. Chem. Senses 32 633-639 10.1093/chemse/bjm031 [PubMed]