Beyond intersubjectivity in olfactory psychophysics II: Troubles with the Object

Area of Science:

• Sensory science
• Phenomenology
• Embodied cognition

Background:

• Traditional sensory science often prioritizes visual and tactile modalities.
• Olfaction's unique spatiality, characterized by immersion rather than distance, challenges conventional research paradigms.
• Understanding olfactory experiences requires methods beyond object-centric approaches.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the immersive spatiality of olfaction.
• To explore how olfactory experiences can be studied through embodied and multimodal approaches.
• To challenge the notion of olfactory ineffability by examining smell language.

Main Methods:

• Analysis of embodied, multimodal qualities of events in an olfactory psychophysics laboratory.
• Examination of the spatial organization within laboratory settings.
• Experimentation with re-production, re-enactment, and re-experiencing olfactory phenomena.
• Semiotic analysis of language used to describe smell experiences.

Main Results:

• Olfactory spatiality is immersive, demanding a relinquishing of dominance while maintaining involvement.
• Laboratory settings and researcher embodiment shape the study of olfaction.
• Smell language is not mute; it articulates the spatial qualities of olfactory experiences.
• Experimental re-enactment offers a method to study non-ocular dimensions of science.

Conclusions:

• Olfactory experiences can be effectively studied using embodied and multimodal methods.
• The concept of olfactory ineffability is challenged by the expressive power of smell language.
• Olfaction offers a unique lens for understanding human engagement with the world beyond object manipulation.