Nathan Cohen: Olfactory Research at the Tokyo Institute of Technology
Cherry blossom Tokyo Institute of Technology 2021 Photo credit - Takamichi Nakamoto
Since 2019 I have been developing olfactory research projects with scientists, technologists and researchers at the Tokyo Institute of Technology, Japan, where I have been appointed a WRHI Visiting Professor, included within the Science & Technology + Art & Design Hybrid Innovation research group.
As stated on their Satellite Lab website, ‘STADHI is a transdisciplinary research group based at the Tokyo Institute of Technology (Tokyo Tech), Japan, in close collaboration with Central Saint Martins, University of the Arts London, UK. Activities are primarily funded by the World Research Hub Initiative (WRHI), an innovation platform at Tokyo Tech.
The strategy of accepting uncertainty and noise, rethinking the situation, asking new questions and transforming them into energy is the forte of art thinking, and cannot be realized by conventional science and technology alone.
Our research group is creating a new framework to challenge thinking frames, perspectives, and theories currently adopted by researchers. We publish academic publications on specialist transdisciplinary subjects and on the “hybrid” research methodologies employed.’
Links to research projects at the Tokyo Institute of Technology:
I have initiated 2 research projects that explore different aspects of olfaction and how it can impact well-being. One project considers this at a more intimate scale, developing ways to integrate smell with visual experience through the medium of interactive digital olfactory displays, in collaboration with Prof Takamichi Nakamoto and his Laboratory.
The other project considers olfaction and well-being on a more macro scale exploring the impact of smell on people travelling in trains, and how this could relate to the development of local tourism. I am conducting this research with Prof Shinya Hanaoka and his team.
Both projects have been developing since early 2020. This is ongoing and we look forward to evolving the projects to realise novel outcomes and published results (please see links below).
Nathan Cohen
