The Development of a Simple Projection-Based, Portable Olfactory Display Device

Olfactory displays are digital devices designed to provide the controlled release of odours to users. In this paper, we report on the design and development of a simple vortex-based olfactory display for a single user. By employing a vortex approach, we are able to minimize the amount of required odour, whilst still producing a good user experience. The olfactory display designed here is based on a steel tube with 3D-printed apertures and solenoid valve operation. A number of different design parameters (such as aperture size) were investigated, and the best combination was combined into a functional olfactory display. User testing was undertaken with four volunteers who were presented with four different odours, at two concentrations. It was found that the time to identify an odour was not strongly related to concentration. However, the intensity of the odour was correlated. We also found that there was a wide variance in human panel results when considering the length of time for a subject to identify an odour to its perceived intensity. This is likely linked to the subject group receiving no odour training before the experiments. However, we were able to produce a working olfactory display, based on a scent project method, which could be applicable to a range of application scenarios.