Smelling Sensations: Olfactory Crossmodal Correspondences

Abstract

Olfaction is ingrained into the fabric of our daily lives and constitutes an integral part of our perceptual reality. Within this reality, there are crossmodal interactions and sensory expectations; understanding how olfaction interacts with other sensory modalities is crucial for augmenting interactive experiences with more advanced multisensorial capabilities. This knowledge will eventually lead to better designs, more engaging experiences, and enhancing the perceived quality of experience. Toward this end, the authors investigated a range of crossmodal correspondences between ten olfactory stimuli and different modalities (angularity of shapes, smoothness of texture, pleasantness, pitch, colors, musical genres, and emotional dimensions) using a sample of 68 observers. Consistent crossmodal correspondences were obtained in all cases, including our novel modality (the smoothness of texture). These associations are most likely mediated by both the knowledge of an odor’s identity and the underlying hedonic ratings: the knowledge of an odor’s identity plays a role when judging the emotional and musical dimensions but not for the angularity of shapes, smoothness of texture, perceived pleasantness, or pitch. Overall, hedonics was the most dominant mediator of crossmodal correspondences.

Predicting the crossmodal correspondences of odors using an electronic nose

“…The perceptual data collection is described in [ 5 ]; here, we analyzed a series of olfactory crossmodal correspondences and explored the nature and origin of these associations. We found consistent crossmodal correspondences between odors and the angularity of shapes, smoothness of texture, perceived pleasantness, pitch, colors, emotional, and musical dimensions.…”

“…For example, people consistently associate a fruity odor to pink/red colors and a musty smell with brown/orange colors [ 4 ]. The main mediation factor behind crossmodal correspondences is presumed to be hedonics; that is these correspondences mainly occur based on how pleasant the inducing stimuli is perceived [ 5 ]. These associations can be considered as a sensory expectation; inconsistency with the expected and actual attributes of an experience results in the experience being perceived as less pleasant [ 6 ].…”

“…Two different brands of essential oils were used to present chemical diversity to the underlying physicochemical features. Data on the crossmodal perception of odors (the angularity of shapes, smoothness of texture, perceived pleasantness, pitch, and colors) for various essential oils were collected in prior work [ 5 ]. E-nose responses were collected for the different odorants using the same brand and volume as the perceptual data.…”

Cross‐modal and cross‐cultural perceptions of parosmia

“…Previous studies have explored cross‐modal correspondences between odors and colors (Kemp & Gilbert, 1997; Luisa Demattè et al, 2006), as well as odors and visual symbols (Kaeppler, 2018; Ryan et al, 2022), in the general population. These studies consistently reveal that individuals often link specific odors to certain colors and shapes.…”

Consumer behavior in augmented shopping reality. A review, synthesis, and research agenda

“…Online sellers and offline retailers require more knowledge about how consumers react to the technology and how to design effective AR applications. For example, based on research insights, ASR could potentially be more effective in addressing different senses when utilizing the crossmodal design paradigm (Ward et al, 2021) which is known to influence decision processes (Deliza and Macfie, 1996) and perceived value (Teas and Agarwal, 2000). As another example, ASR could be more effective making use of the latest research findings on the design of AR information at the point of sale (Hoffmann et al, 2022).…”