Transcentdance / Visualizing Scent

SXSW 2023 (South by Southwest 2023), the world's largest festival of technology, music, and film gathering companies and creators from various industries, was held in March in Texas, USA. Dentsu Inc. and Dentsu Creative X participated in the Interactive division's "Creative Industries Expo". They exhibited three prototype works showcasing cutting-edge experiences created under the concept "Unnamed Sensations." This three-part report explores the expansion of senses like "touch," "texture," and "smell" made possible by the fusion of cutting-edge technology and creativity.

Part 2 focuses on " Transcentdance," an AR content that converts scent data into dance. What does "visualizing scent" mean? We asked Shota Tanaka of Dentsu Inc. Creative X, representing the project team.

 

Scent dances in AR

──What is Transcentdance?

It's a portmanteau of "Transcend" + "Scent" + "Dance." In a nutshell, it's content that lets you enjoy scents visualized as dance. When the user selects a scent, sensors read its components. Based on the scent identified by AI, a character-like representation of that scent dances in real-time within AR. We added temporal and spatial information to scent—which is notoriously difficult to visualize due to its fleeting nature—and linked it to dynamic dance movements.

The impetus came from the constant challenge of expressing scent in everyday advertising work. We wondered if there was a way to make scent more directly visible and communicable. We began planning this project during an internal call for proposals for SXSW. We also sensed potential in the entertainment field, where olfactory information remains largely untapped.

Transcentdance booth. Austin Convention Center, Texas, USA, March 12-15 (local time)

──What was the team structure for SXSW?

Dentsu Inc. Creative X handled planning and production, while Dentsu Craft Tokyo was responsible for implementation. We used scent sensors from Reborn Inc. and received cooperation from their sensory evaluators. For transforming scents into dance, we collaborated with choreographer and dancer Natsuko Kuroda.

From the initial idea of turning scent into dance to completion took about a year and a half. Most of that time was spent on concept design, planning, and researching scent sensors; the actual implementation period was about two months.

Translating scent into language and expressing it through dance

──What were the challenges in bringing the idea to life?

Smell is fleeting information, considered extremely difficult to verbalize. Consequently, the same scent can be perceived differently by each person. Within this context, the challenge was how to make the visualization of scent convincing.

First, we narrowed down the scents to be translated into dance to six. We then had sensory evaluators assign each scent over 50 keywords (such as "sweet" or "refreshing") using a five-point intensity scale, effectively verbalizing the scents. Using this linguistic information, we had contemporary dancers express the actual scents through dance after smelling them. By incorporating these analog, individual sensations, we were able to express the scents not as absolute answers, but as one possible interpretation, achieving a sense of conviction.

When participants select a scent, sensors read its components. AI identifies the scent based on the ratio of its components and the amount of change.

──How was the response on-site?

We noticed many foreign visitors showed genuine interest in scent. While implementing the system in Japan, we worried whether people would find the scent visualization convincing. But when visitors actually experienced Transcentdance on-site, they were surprisingly proactive in trying to understand it.

We also received many business ideas from attendees. Numerous people suggested that Transcentdance's technology could be applied to their own businesses. At Japanese tech exhibitions, our presentations often felt one-sided, so the interactive exchanges at SXSW felt refreshing.

Visitors experiencing Transcentdance (left) / An AI-identified scent triggers a real-time, character-based "scent" to dance in AR (right)

Tech creativity is on par with film and music

──Please tell us about current challenges and future prospects.

The first challenge is that the range of scents we can currently express is still quite limited. We've developed six dance types so far, but moving forward, we aim to increase the number of types and enable mixing them to express a wider variety of scents. Beyond just adding more dance types, we also plan to build a library of dances, such as incorporating multiple dancers. Furthermore, by integrating AI, we want to enable the automatic generation of dances.

The second challenge is that the entertainment value is still weak. As an AR experience for enjoying scents, the current lack of interaction with the user leaves a weak impression. Since scent entertainment is still in its early stages, we want to add interaction to break into this field. We believe that enabling people to enjoy scents will open up possibilities for expansion into various fields.

For example, in education, it could support children's scent learning as edutainment. Or in healthcare, synchronizing visuals with aromatherapy scents could enhance their effects, contributing to physical and mental health, relaxation, and stress relief. Furthermore, the fusion of smell and sight could spark new possibilities in fields closely tied to human senses, like spatial design and art. Of course, applications in marketing, such as corporate promotions using scent, are also anticipated.

 

──A message for those planning to attend or visit SXSW in the future.

From commercialized products to prototype technologies, the diverse exhibits offer inspiration whether you're participating or just observing. It's refreshing to see tech treated on par with music and film, making me realize how international audiences perceive tech's creativity and potential for growth. The atmosphere is incredibly positive, filled with forward-thinking people, so definitely explore the festival grounds.

 

Staff List:
Takuji Okamoto (Dentsu Inc. Creative X) Executive Producer
Toyoshige Inose (Dentsu Inc. Creative X) Chief Producer
Mitsuo Sawamura (Dentsu Inc. Creative X) Producer
Mari Sasaki (Dentsu Inc. Creative X) Production Manager
Shota Tanaka (Dentsu Inc. Creative X) Planner
Tomomi Iizuka (Dentsu Inc. Creative X) Art Director
Shino Nishino (Dentsu Inc. Creative X) Art Director
Hirotoshi Murata (Dentsu Craft Tokyo) Technical Director
Sato Satoru (Dentsu Craft Tokyo) Technical Director
Jun Asakura (Dentsu Craft Tokyo) Engineer
Yuki Tanabe (Dentsu Craft Tokyo) Frontend Engineer
An Kono (Dentsu Inc. Creative X) Copy Writer
Jonathan Hinton Copy Writer
Natsuko Kuroda Choreographer
 

Sensor Cooperation: Revorn Co., Ltd.

 

Website:
https://transcent.dance