tiny particles are surrounded by a coating made of small capsules with desired properties. Once the coating is broken, droplets of fragrances in the capsules are released. Scentsory Design focuses on biological systems, which are both active and interactive. In particular the research is concerned with body odour delivery in mammals,. An animal will sense biologically relevant odours, which leads to activation of the odour glands (pumping of odours). Inspired by these biological systems, responsive designs can mimic pulsing a fragrance around a fabric and imitate biological references to odour glands. If such a scent delivery is to be feasible and have the desired effect it must be used at exactly the right time and in short bursts (similar to the mammalian examples). However, since our sense of smell is so idiosyncratic, it would be impossible to attempt to change people’s moods using one single fragrance with the same effect on everyone.
‘Scent By A Wireless Web’ Photo Tomek Shierek
African Bombardier Beetle. Photo Thomas Eisner Cornell University
Lab-on-a-chip This study has provided a new method of aroma delivery. In collaboration with analytical chemists Prof. Andreas Manz (who pioneered the ‘lab-on-a-chip’) and Dr Gareth Jenkins from the Institute of Analytical Sciences in Germany, small microfluidic devices were implanted into responsive jewellery and bags. Microfluidics is a new technology involving the design and production of devices that deal with extremely small volumes of fluids. These devices can combine electrical and mechanical components, down to a characteristic scale of one micron. Microfluidics is the generic technology of manipulating fluids on a chip, including the integration of pumps, valves, mixers and reaction chambers, which enable the fabrication of microreactors and lab-on-a-chip devices (Brunnschweiler et al., 2000).
The process of transporting smell is more complex than a focus on the mechanics and electronics of pulsating delivery systems would suggest. Several difficulties with chemical issues have been encountered, together with the issues of threshhold timing and compatibility between jewelry, fabric and microfluidic materials. The primary ethical concerns relate to the potential for odour pollution, originating from the pulsing of chemicals onto a localized area. However, the advantage derived from this research is that it allows for the targeted delivery of minute droplets of scent which is more efficient and economic, focusing on intimate and personal use rather than generalized and higher volume use.
and Aneshansley, 1999). Along with fluidic references to the human body, it is the bombardier beetle’s innovative delivery system that offers further inspiration for the fabric research and development in this paper. Insects have an acute sense of smell. They send pheromones at prospective mates from secretory organs, with the architectural device of specialised brushes, fans, lattice-like hairs, inflated balloons and glands. (Wyatt 2003). Their robot-like response to odours and their scent delivery system was a vital inspiration for the delicate mechanisms behind the design work for Scentsory Design fabrics.
The fragrance industry is taking odour pollution seriously and addressing fragrancesensitivity issues. As there is an increase of asthma in children, which could be connected to odour-injected pathways, it is important to
In order to understand the purpose of a Scentsory Design fabric, it is necessary to compare it with the dynamic properties of human skin: a tough, waterproof, continuous living tissue and the largest organ of the body. The skin is not merely a thin boundary protecting the inner person from the outer world, but a multi-layered organ called the dermis which has its own nervous system and blood supply. New cells are constantly pushed to the surface, changing function and shape on their long journey. Skin is an excretory organ and defense barrier holdcourtesy of Professor ‘Scent Whisper’ Photo Don Baxendale ing the internal organs together. emphasise that scent delivery with microfluidic A third of the body’s blood is pumped from the technology will be mineralised and controlled heart to the skin. Furthermore, the skin is the accordingly. Most lab-on-a-chip research pamajor point of contact with the surrounding pers focus on chemical or biochemical analyworld, where sensory messages are received sis and other applications where pollution is from the external environment, which are then not a significant issue. Current research sugpassed to the brain. gests that micro-devices require only small volumes of sample and reagents, and produce Human skin is perforated with approximately only small amounts of waste, which can often two million sweat pores, distributed unevenly be contained within a lab-on-a-chip device around the body, e.g. palms of the hands, fore(Weigl, et al., 2003) head, nose, armpits, groin and soles of the feet. Other research that explores ‘chemical warfare’ has identified the principles for defense mechanisms in African bombardier beetles that squirt predators with a high-pressure jet of boiling liquid in a rapid-fire action (Eisner
Sweat glands lie deep in the dermis and spiral through layers of horny cells and out of tiny pores. Not only do these glands predominantly produce salty fluids, but also pheromones from the modified scent sweat glands, aiding sexual