Less is (Just as Good as) More - an Investigation of Odor Intensity and Hedonic Valence in Mulsemedia QoE using Heart Rate and Eye Tracking

Using olfactory media to enhance traditional multimedia content opens up novel opportunities for user interactions. Whilst the influence of olfaction on user experience in mulsemedia (multiple sensorial media) environments has been previously studied, the impact of the fundamental dimensions of scent intensity and valence (odor hedonic dimension or pleasantness) have been largely unexplored. This is precisely what we target in this paper, which reports the results of an empirical investigation examining how scent intensity and valence impact mulsemedia Quality of Experience (QoE). Accordingly, 54 participants were exposed to different odor valences and scent intensity levels when viewing three short multimedia clips. In particular, we examine both subjective (self-reported) as well as objective QoE metrics, as evidenced by user heart rates and eye gaze patterns. Results show that whilst eye gaze patterns are largely unaffected by the experimental conditions, valence does have a statistically significant impact upon user heart rates, as does intensity for two of the three clips employed in our study. In terms of subjective QoE, results indicate that hedonic valence impacts on the sense of reality and enjoyment; however varying odor intensity levels do not seem to differentially impact on user experience, bringing into question the need for strong scent intensities.