AromaCanvas: A wearable olfactory display for Chinese painting appreciation and learning in virtual reality

In this paper, we present AromaCanvas, a wearable olfactory display designed to enhance immersive appreciation and exploration of Chinese paintings in virtual reality (VR). AromaCanvas integrates two piezoelectric-based transducers into a vest, enabling scent delivery around the user's shoulder...

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Main Authors: Tao Lin, Quanhao Gan, Fuxi Ouyang, Yiming Luo, Yushan Pan, Yushi Li, Shaoyu Cai
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2025-12-01
Series:Computers & Education: X Reality
Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2949678025000170
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author Tao Lin
Quanhao Gan
Fuxi Ouyang
Yiming Luo
Yushan Pan
Yushi Li
Shaoyu Cai
author_facet Tao Lin
Quanhao Gan
Fuxi Ouyang
Yiming Luo
Yushan Pan
Yushi Li
Shaoyu Cai
author_sort Tao Lin
collection DOAJ
description In this paper, we present AromaCanvas, a wearable olfactory display designed to enhance immersive appreciation and exploration of Chinese paintings in virtual reality (VR). AromaCanvas integrates two piezoelectric-based transducers into a vest, enabling scent delivery around the user's shoulders with controllable intensities activated through finger gesture interactions. Users can engage with Chinese paintings by pointing at different elements, such as woods or flowers, to trigger corresponding scents at varying intensities, creating a highly immersive and engaging VR art experience. We conducted two user-perception experiments to investigate how users perceive scents in virtual environments using our olfactory system. The first experiment explored human perception under different actuation factors, including the actuator distances, actuated intensities, and scent types, using piezoelectric-based transducers. Results revealed that perceived scent intensity varied across these factors, allowing us to optimize AromaCanvas for the most energy-efficient design. The second experiment evaluated the VR experience and demonstrated that AromaCanvas significantly enhanced users' sense of presence, usability, and overall experience of appreciating and learning about Chinese paintings in VR, outperforming the conventional VR system.
format Article
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issn 2949-6780
language English
publishDate 2025-12-01
publisher Elsevier
record_format Article
series Computers & Education: X Reality
spelling doaj-art-cabd32bef74946efbc55149a5fee33be2025-08-20T03:16:08ZengElsevierComputers & Education: X Reality2949-67802025-12-01710010910.1016/j.cexr.2025.100109AromaCanvas: A wearable olfactory display for Chinese painting appreciation and learning in virtual realityTao Lin0Quanhao Gan1Fuxi Ouyang2Yiming Luo3Yushan Pan4Yushi Li5Shaoyu Cai6College of Design and Engineering, National University of Singapore, SingaporeCollege of Design and Engineering, National University of Singapore, SingaporeCollege of Design and Engineering, National University of Singapore, SingaporeSchool of Cyber Engineering, Xidian University, Xi'an, ChinaUniversity of Liverpool, UKHong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, ChinaCollege of Design and Engineering, National University of Singapore, Singapore; Corresponding author.In this paper, we present AromaCanvas, a wearable olfactory display designed to enhance immersive appreciation and exploration of Chinese paintings in virtual reality (VR). AromaCanvas integrates two piezoelectric-based transducers into a vest, enabling scent delivery around the user's shoulders with controllable intensities activated through finger gesture interactions. Users can engage with Chinese paintings by pointing at different elements, such as woods or flowers, to trigger corresponding scents at varying intensities, creating a highly immersive and engaging VR art experience. We conducted two user-perception experiments to investigate how users perceive scents in virtual environments using our olfactory system. The first experiment explored human perception under different actuation factors, including the actuator distances, actuated intensities, and scent types, using piezoelectric-based transducers. Results revealed that perceived scent intensity varied across these factors, allowing us to optimize AromaCanvas for the most energy-efficient design. The second experiment evaluated the VR experience and demonstrated that AromaCanvas significantly enhanced users' sense of presence, usability, and overall experience of appreciating and learning about Chinese paintings in VR, outperforming the conventional VR system.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2949678025000170
spellingShingle Tao Lin
Quanhao Gan
Fuxi Ouyang
Yiming Luo
Yushan Pan
Yushi Li
Shaoyu Cai
AromaCanvas: A wearable olfactory display for Chinese painting appreciation and learning in virtual reality
Computers & Education: X Reality
title AromaCanvas: A wearable olfactory display for Chinese painting appreciation and learning in virtual reality
title_full AromaCanvas: A wearable olfactory display for Chinese painting appreciation and learning in virtual reality
title_fullStr AromaCanvas: A wearable olfactory display for Chinese painting appreciation and learning in virtual reality
title_full_unstemmed AromaCanvas: A wearable olfactory display for Chinese painting appreciation and learning in virtual reality
title_short AromaCanvas: A wearable olfactory display for Chinese painting appreciation and learning in virtual reality
title_sort aromacanvas a wearable olfactory display for chinese painting appreciation and learning in virtual reality
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2949678025000170
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