After seeing that the first launch was successful, my team and I decided we were due for a relaunch.

There were some things we wanted to improve on from the first launch. First, we thought that we should try to come up with a way to personalize a scent. During the previous event, we used a water diffuser with a few drops of lavender essential oil. Though a decent amount of participants were very fond of the scent, some thought it was too overpowering and not accommodative. A staff member walked past the room and upon asking him to try out our room, he stated that he had allergies and did not want to take in scent.

Also, one of the eventgoers suggested the option to follow a guided breathing meditation. The only source of sound in our first installation was a soundscape, which comprised of a collection of calming music. Although they enjoyed the soundscape, we were told that they were neurodivergent and that instrumental music — particularly classical music — is sometimes too distracting for them. They stated that an orally guided meditation can help some people focus better by steering them away from their distracting thoughts.

One other thing that we got feedback on was the placement of the furniture and lights. One participant said that they thought the room seemed a bit empty and another said that the lights were too “in their face.”

In our relaunch, our team decided to address these pieces of feedback to create an optimal experience for installation goers.

While my other teammates worked on addressing the sound options, I decided to work on finding a way to personalize scents.

One of the original ideas to go about this was to create a necklace with a container that will hold a felt cloth. On this felt cloth, there would be a drop or two of the essential oil of the wearer’s choice. However, we were not able to obtain the necessary materials to create these necklaces, prompting me to look for inspiration. As I brainstormed ways to create individualized scents, the mechanism of a diffuser came to mind. A diffuser uses water vapor to carry the scent that is diluted into the water tank, resulting in an effective distribution of the aroma. I was intrigued by the use of water vapor, leading me to come up with the ultimate idea. My idea was to use hot water, where people would have a cup filled with hot water and few drops of their scent of choice, allowing the steam from the hot water deliver the scent. In my mind, this was a diffuser but on a much smaller scale, which would be perfect for enveloping the participant in the scent without it being overpowering or leaving behind trails.

Another thing I wanted to work on was the presentation of the scent options. I thought that unscrewing the vial, letting people smell the scent directly from the vial, and screwing the vial cap back on was unappealing. I drew inspiration from some department stores, where they have their scent options on a stick or hand-held item for people to try. I decided to use a paper plate with thick paper partitions, while using carboard as the stick and the paper towel to hold the scent.

During setup, we decided to change a few things from last time.

First, we decided to try setting the table perpendicular to the wall, unlike last time where the table was placed right along the wall (parallel). This way, we could make room for extra furniture, such as a couch and some air cushions. In the process, we also were able to provide a wider collection of sensory toys, where last time we only had a couple of toys people could play with. Some new toys included fidget spinners, hinge toys, and other 3D printed shaker animals. One other change we implemented was the placement of lights. Taking some feedback into mind, we made sure that none of the lights were invasive of an optimal destress experience.

Despite having a vehicle for carrying scent, we still decided to use the diffuser. Similar to a water fountain, we figured that the diffuser would help people relax through its gentle sound and sensory resemblance to flowing water.

Upon launching, we asked staff members and students passing by our installation if they wanted to partake in our sensory room, and were visited by some friends who engaged with the promotional material prior to the event. We gave participants a option to have a scent with them during the experience, and if they chose to do so, we provided them with the scent sampler to see which one they liked the best. After, we gave them the option to have a soundscape or a guided breathing meditation to play in the background. Then, I lead them to the room, told them the rules, and left them there for five minutes.

We received feedback for our room from 15 different people, where 13 of those individuals participated in the experience. Compared to last launch, that is almost twice the amount of participants. Also, something worth noting is that we extended the runtime from 5pm to somewhere closer to 6pm. I believe that this time extension was one of the biggest influences to our increase in engagement.

During the runtime, I made some interesting observations and think they are worth noting. Some participants left the room before the five minute time limit due to a time sensitive obligation they had. On the other hand, we struggled to get some participants out of the room due to their complacence. Interestingly enough, for a couple of participants, instead of having us pour them a steaming cup of water with the choice of scent, they opted to carry the sampler of their choice scent into the room. Also, there was one person that decided to not have a scent, stating that they “are pretty sensitive to smell.” More surprisingly, a staff member passing by complained that the aroma from the sampler were too strong and stated that it might be insensitive to the people in the hallways.