ScentDia, 2025
ScentDia is the final addition to the Diamandini series, created by Mari Velonaki in collaboration with perfume creator Manos Gerakinis and philosopher of science and theorist Luisa Damiano.
In this version the humanoid robot Diamandini responds to ‘her’ visitors and surroundings by movement, sound and scent.
In ScentDia, olfactory stimuli was incorporated to increase robot presence and agency. This is the first custom scent developed for an interactive social robot. As the robot navigates through the space it releases its own scent, creating a unique trail and at the same time awareness of its presence.
Premiered at Esxence - The Art Perfumery Event in Milan, Italy 19-22 February 2025.
Credits
Mari Velonaki: original concept, interface & interaction design
Manos Gerakinis: perfume creation together with the team of Vioryl
in collaboration with
Luisa Damiano: research communication and publication
David Rye: mechatronic systems design & integration
Ethan Jones: software development & sound and movement integration
Marc Katzef: scent mechanism adaptation and integration
Jorge Forseck Rauh Hain: vision system & testing
Frederic Robinson: robot sound design & composition
John Gillies: ScentDia original film & robot sound composition
Created at the Creative Robotics Lab and the National Facility for Human-Robot Interaction Research, UNSW Sydney, Australia.
Exhibited at
Esxence - The Art Perfumery Event, Allianz – MiCo Milano Convention Centre, Milan, Italy. 19 - 22 February 2025.
Museo Nazionale della Scienza e della Tecnologia Leonardo da Vinci, Milan, Italy. 21 February - 2 March 2025.