Digital-physical fragrance prototyping for Shiseido

Shiseido asked The Division for support introducing digital technology into their product development process. They had concepts but needed technical expertise and insight to translate their vision into a fully functioning experience. Inspired by the ancient Japanese practise of Shinrin-Yoku (Forest Bathing) they wanted to create a multi-sensory in-store and exhibition experience using auditory, visual, tactile and olfactory senses.

I created a custom water vaporising unit that would sit beneath a product display. Using NFC and wireless technologies I developed a prototype that triggered the dispersal of a fragrance when different objects were touched and manipulated, as well as a backup interface for a mobile phone for “wizard-of-oz” style demonstrations. This gave the client piece of mind, that even if some part of the tech demo failed, they could use their phone as a fallback. The final deliverable was a kit sent to the client in Paris and Tokyo that could be easily set up by their design team on-site, filled with any fragrience and connected to a large display and audio system.