1. S Sense
The sense of smell is vital in our everyday lives. It is a major component in our sense of taste and it has a wonderful ability to create memories and bring them to the forefront of our consciousness. It warns us against danger and affects our mood. It also has quite a bit of influence in our sexual attraction and coupling. The sense of smell can tell us quite a bit about ourselves.
S SENSE is a project that combines designing and neuroscience. The project introduces a research on the sense of smell and its uses. Many case studies in this field were gathered into a story of anosmic character, who's never experienced the sense of smell before. First, she learn to smell with odor learning device that operates as biofeedback. Subsequently, she combines smells in her own world and amplifies them by designated jewelries in order to influence on social situations. Moreover, she studies her past by restoration of her memories through smells.
Today I learnt that Anosmia, a loss of sense of smell either wholly or partially, permanently or temporarily. How our brain works hides behind the sense of smell, and the sense of smell has the ability to create memories, has its own character and can restore memories through it.
The video ended off with a message ; To train the senses before we abandon them in favour of nanotechnology implants that may increase the sensory experience.
After watching this video, it heightened my interest towards the sense of smell as it triggers memories the most that is a part of what I am looking for in my project.
2. Chloe Meineck's Music Memory Box
A music box that invites dementia sufferers to hold familiar objects, which activate songs, and magically stir inaccessible memories. Chloe Meineck's Music Memory Box does just that, but now imagine that it could do even more? Setting out to develop this extraordinary project, Chloe will investigate the potential of communal experiences for care homes, which could even break out of the box to pervade the everyday.
The objects in the box was reminders to the patients and they speak to them through the usage of five senses that triggers personal memories. The music box contains objects that are personal to the patients and kept close to, when their memory fails them one day, these objects will be a reminder as memories. Also, the music box can play songs that also helps to trigger memories.
This video and outcome is an inspiration for me, as it plays around with senses and memories to help solve a problem. It is almost like one of my outcome intentions that consist of items in a box that will be kept as memory and grow into inspirations.
3. How to succeed with your madeleine
The Madeleine is, to all intents and purposes, an analogue odour camera. Based on current perfumery technology, Headspace Capture, The Madeleine works in much the same way as a 35mm camera. Just as the camera records the light information of a visual in order to create a replica The Madeleine records the chemical information of a smell.
If an analogue, amateur-friendly system of odour capture and synthesis could be developed, we could see a profound change in the way we regard the use and effect of smells in our daily lives. From manipulating our emotional wellbeing through prescribed nostalgia, to the functional use of conditioned scent memory, our olfactory sense could take on a much more conscious role in the way we consume and record the world.
This is my favourite project thus far, it is simple yet interesting. Also, the art direction is what I am looking for, this would serve as a guideline for me. This project is about keeping a memory of something through the sense of smell. The object can be of anything, just place it under the madeleine cover and let the condensation happen. It will turn liquid form and the smell now becomes physical.
This project has another interesting point that I like that is it allows anyone to participate. Users will send the liquid collected and then receive their smell memory capsule. Which then becomes personal and only one of a kind.
Today, these videos were inspiring and sparked an interest in senses + memory which I've thought about in the last semester break. Hopefully these would serve well for my designing of the next few outcomes.
