Online Shopping in the Multisensory Age

If there’s one problem that’s plagued the practice of online shopping since the birth of the Internet, it’s that shoppers really like to interact with products. They want to feel the texture and sniff the aroma and - in such cases as choosing a local restaurant or a box of Valentine chocolates - taste the wares, before forking over their hard-earned dollars.

Enter CD&I Associate’s The Sense, designed as part of the La Fin Du Design Exhibition, a wireless device that seeks to revolutionize online shopping by providing a way for consumers to smell, touch and taste their intended purchases before filling their cyber shopping cart. Sense is a combination of smell magnification system, smell and flavor-ink micro-printer, and a screen that is able to create a tactile experience of physical products. The micro-printer uses thirteen basic combinations of wax cartridges that print tiny translucent sheets to simulate flavors and melt in your mouth.

One of the most unique aspects about Sense is the touchscreen display which recreates the tactile experience through the use of nanotechnology. The user inserts his or her hands into the Sense sheath and is able to feel temperature, roughness, softness, hardness, or pressure. The device can be also be programmed with voice and read Braille text for the visually impaired. In addition to the experiences that come packaged with the device, new Sense applications can be downloaded from Internet.