ScentEcho: Exploring Adsorbent Materials for Accurate Odor Collection and Playback

Abstract

Delivering odors that feel realistic and recognizable remains a core challenge for olfactory interaction systems, particularly in applications that demand precise scent delivery. A key limitation lies in the difficulty of capturing, preserving, and playing back real-world scent sources in a reliable and scalable manner. This study explores the potential of adsorbent materials for supporting realistic scent playback. We present ScentEcho, a portable system that enables modular scent collection and release. Through user evaluations, we identify which adsorbent materials tend to perform better for specific odors, and observe that perceived intensity strongly influences similarity ratings. In addition, odor recognition follows a graded pattern, with users moving from broad category identification to more specific source recognition as similarity increases. These findings offer practical insights for designing olfactory interfaces that are both expressive and perceptually aligned with user expectations.