Olfactory Stimuli in VR
2025 · Peer-reviewed · Yasmin Elsaddik
Overview
I've always been fascinated by how a single scent can shift your entire mood in seconds, so we set out to test whether that effect could be recreated inside a virtual environment.
Scent is the most underrated sense in immersive design.
Problem
Immersive VR for relaxation is mostly visual and audio. We wanted to know whether adding scent would reduce stress more effectively than visuals alone.
System
We ran a controlled experiment with 30 participants in a calming seaside VR session, with and without a beach-themed scent, and measured physiological and self-reported stress responses.
Result
Participants did not always report feeling more relaxed, but heart rate variability showed reduced stress when scent was present. What people feel and what their bodies register are not always the same.
This paper is published via IEEE and may require institutional access.