O&O: A DIY toolkit for designing and rapid prototyping olfactory interfaces

Constructing olfactory interfaces on demand requires significant design proficiency and engineering effort. The absence of powerful and convenient tools that reduced innovation complexity posed obstacles for future research in the area. To address this problem, we proposed O&O, a modular olfactory interface DIY toolkit. The toolkit consists of: (1) a scent generation kit, a set of electronics and accessories that supported three common scent vaporization techniques; (2) a module construction kit, a set of primitive cardboard modules for assembling permutable functional structures; (3) a design manual, a step-by-step design thinking framework that directs the decision-making and prototyping process. We organized a formal workshop with 19 participants and four solo DIY trials to evaluate the capability of the toolkit, the overall user engagement, the creations in both sessions, and the iterative suggestions. Finally, design implications and future opportunities were discussed for further research.