Smells Influence Perceived Pleasantness but Not Memorization of a Visual Virtual Environment.

Agnieszka Sabiniewicz,Moustafa Bensafi,Elena Schaefer,Thomas Hummel,Cedric Manesse,Gabriele Nelles,Nadejda Krasteva,Cagdas Guducu

doi:10.1177/2041669521989731

Abstract

The present study aimed to investigate whether the perception of still scenes in a virtual environment in congruent versus incongruent condition can be influenced by odors. Ninety healthy participants were divided into three groups, including two experimental virtual reality (VR) environments: a rose garden, an orange basket, and a control condition. In each VR condition, participants were exposed to a rose odor, an orange odor, or no odor, resulting in congruent, incongruent, and control conditions. Participants were asked to describe (a) the content of the VR scene and rate its overall pleasantness and (b) the smell and to rate its intensity and pleasantness. For each condition, participants were tested twice. During the second test, participants provided ratings and descriptions of the content of the VR scenes without being exposed to odors or VR environments. Virtual scenarios tended to be remembered as more pleasant when presented with congruent odors. Furthermore, participants used more descriptors in congruent scenarios than in incongruent scenarios. Eventually, rose odor appeared to be remembered as more pleasant when presented within congruent scenarios. These findings show that olfactory stimuli in congruent versus incongruent conditions can possibly modulate the perception of the pleasantness of visual scenes but not the memorization.

Highlights

The earliest known use of the term virtual reality is in The Theatre and its Double, a book by Antonin Artaud published in 1938 (Artaud, 1938/2013)
The present study aimed to investigate whether the perception of still scenes in a virtual environment in congruent versus incongruent condition can be influenced by odors
In each virtual reality (VR) condition, participants were exposed to a rose odor, an orange odor, or no odor, resulting in congruent, incongruent, and control conditions

Summary

Introduction

The earliest known use of the term virtual reality is in The Theatre and its Double, a book by Antonin Artaud published in 1938 (Artaud, 1938/2013). As a matter of fact, some studies have already included olfactory stimuli in virtual environments (e.g., Baus & Bouchard, 2017; Micaroni et al, 2019; Ranasinghe et al, 2018). Their effects have been studied for such specific uses as military training (Vlahos, 2006), firefighter training, and medical diagnosis (Spencer, 2006) or posttraumatic stress disorder treatment (Aiken & Berry, 2015). A series of experimental studies led us to believe that smells can effectively modulate the perceived pleasantness and the memorialization of virtual scenes, depending on the congruent and incongruent conditions We asked ourselves: Do odors affect the perceived pleasantness of virtual scenes in congruent versus incongruent conditions? Do they influence the memorization of virtual scenes in these conditions? A series of experimental studies led us to believe that smells can effectively modulate the perceived pleasantness and the memorialization of virtual scenes, depending on the congruent and incongruent conditions

Methods

Results

Conclusion