Interaction - Bachelor
tranScent is an experiential campaign attempting to transform fragrance sampling, an everyday shopping moment, into a real-time multisensory experience. Each press of a sensor-equipped perfume bottle releases real scent and a matching sound, while a projection blooms where it was sprayed, moving through top, heart and base notes.
The ROPO effect (research online, purchase offline) describes shoppers who discover and compare products online, then buy them in store. For products like fragrance, which cannot be smelled or tested through a screen, this behavioural pattern could be seen on shoppers who have already seen a perfume recommended on Instagram or TikTok, and are waiting for the moment they can smell it.
The project is framed as a hypothetical commission from an unnamed fragrance house launching its new collection through an experiential campaign. Referencing the concept of ephemeral retail, which VML’s 2026 report describes as “highly curated, short-lived physical spaces designed not to sell inventory, but to shape meaning”, the client is looking for something beyond the usual, rather passive sampling counter and a beautiful boutique, that brings traffic to the physical retail space. These spaces are landing at a moment when stores are expected to do more than display products, and shoppers still value what only a physical space can offer.
“In an overstimulating shopping mall, how might we draw passers-by’s attention, invite them to get closer to the store, and leave them a deep & lasting impression of the brand and its products?”
DESIGN QUESTION
“What if I could transform fragrance sampling, this ordinary shopping moment, into a real-time multi-sensory experience?”
DESIGN OPPORTUNITY
This prototype only covers a single fragrance due budget and time constraints. However, the system was designed to scale with the note modules programmed. Each note is its own parametric module with its own timing, movement, colour and sound, and every module reads from the same event table and timing model. A new fragrance still needs its own imagery and careful tuning, but it is built as a new composition of notes on the existing system rather than a new system.
In a full collection, every bottle on the counter would carry its own sensor and identify itself to the system.
A visitor could pick up any fragrance, spray it, watch and hear that particular composition unfold, then try another, compare how the two differ, or even layer the fragrance.
Izziea Chen is an Interaction Design student who approaches experiential campaigns and digital products at the intersection of creative technology, business analysis, and human behaviour. She designs for engagement and entertainment that are meaningful, memorable, and built with depth.
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