Scentsor[ring]

Abstract Digital technologies have already impacted on the world of jewellery at a surprising and rapidly increasing rate. Since the first, tentative experiments with computer-aided design in the 1970s, through developments in computer numerically controlled manufacture in the 1980s and, critically, since the mid 1990s in rapid prototyping processes, the take up of all these technologies by the jewellery design and manufacturing community has accelerated to a degree that in view of the traditional values of the discipline is perhaps unexpected. It is fair to say that digital technologies now play some part, often the major part, in virtually every sector of jewellery design, manufacture and promotion, from that of the experimental artist-craftsman to that of the finest jewellery houses. The so-called ‘contemporary jewellery’ movement as a whole, however, has stood back from this development. Contextualised by the field of contemporary jewellery but recognising a world of shifting values and changing resources, the seminars aims were broad and cross-disciplinary: to stimulate debate and to open up channels of communication on a range of methods, issues and opportunities - consequent in the main on developments in digital technology - that now confront the creators of contemporary jewellery, jewellery users and others in fields allied to that of jewellery. This seminar brought together an invited group of speakers and delegates including practitioners and theorists from jewellery and the applied arts, fashion and textile designers, historians, critics, policy-makers and environmentalists, to consider new research directives for the integration of digital technologies within the field of jewellery, and for the development of new research methodologies and innovative products. The seminar’s objectives included: a review of the impact of digital technologies on jewellery design and production to date; the identifications of key issues for the future development of jewellery in relation to digital technologies, and the exploration of new working processes and methodologies. This paper explores the roles of Scentsor[ring]: digital jewellery embedded with wireless sensor networks and microfluidic devices for therapeutic, diagnostic and wellbeing applications. The development of this collection is inspired by the chemical language and interaction of organisms to dispense fragrance, triggered by sensors that react to an individual's body state (e.g. heart rate, temperature) and the environment (e.g. sound). Further sensors such as the ‘electronic nose’ will be introduced and unorthodox and innovative designs in jewellery will be examined. There is increasing interest in the effect of the environment on wellbeing and symptoms of mental illness, but until now the focus of recent intervention in this area has been in the more distant or the interpersonal environment. This paper investigates intervention in the immediate personal air-space around the individual. Combined with other forms of support for improved mental health, many patients could welcome the prospect of jewellery that offers enhanced control of their emotional state, whether by conscious control or biofeedback. Several psychiatric disorders and symptoms will be investigated for an application of such Scentsor[ring] technologies i.e. the use of scents to enhance mood and improve psychological wellbeing. This scooping will be undertaken in collaboration with experts in the area of mental health and wellbeing. The paper will conclude by proposing jewellery that mimics the sense of smell via electronic nose sensors in order to detect spoiled food, monitor pollutant chemicals in the air, or set the basis for revolutionary work in the diagnostic area such as pinpointing ovulation and diseases. By emulating a dog’s sense of smell the jewellery could sniff out explosives and narcotics, or detect the early stages of cancer. Further examples include jewellery that is pre-programmed to detect a potential partner’s pheromone profile and then send a sample of the users pheromones, or a mosquito repelling device, or an olfactive watch, or jewellery that offers wider-waves of feeling in (re)active environments

JENTIL: responsive clothing that promotes an ‘holistic approach to fashion as a new vehicle to treat psychological conditions’

This paper explores an ongoing interdisciplinary research project at the cutting edge of sensory, aroma and medical work, which seeks to change the experience of fragrance to a more intimate communication of identity, by employing emerging technologies with the ancient art of perfumery. The project illustrates .holistic' clothing called the JENTIL® Collection, following on from the Author’s SmartSecondSkin' PhD research, which describes a new movement in functional, emotional clothing that incorporates scent. The project investigates the emergent interface between the arts and biomedical sciences, around new emerging technologies and science platforms, and their applications in the domain of health and well-being. The JENTIL® Collection focuses on the development of .gentle., responsive clothing that changes with emotion, since the garments are designed for psychological end benefit to reduce stress. This is achieved by studying the mind and advancing knowledge and understanding of how known well-being fragrances embedded in holistic Fashion, could impact on mental health. This paper aims to combine applied theories about human well-being, with multisensory design, in order to create experimental strategies to improve self and social confidence for individuals suffering from depressive illnesses. The range of methodologies employed extends beyond the realm of fashion and textile techniques, to areas such as neuroscience, psychiatry, human sensory systems and affective states, and the increase in popularity of complementary therapies. In this paper the known affective potential of the sense of smell is discussed, by introducing Aroma-Chology as a tool that is worn as an emotional support system to create a personal scent bubble. around the body, with the capacity to regulate mood, physiological and psychological state and improve self-confidence in social situations. The clothing formulates a healing platform around the wearer, by creating novel olfactory experiences in textiles that are not as passive as current microencapsulated capsule systems generally are

CSM is 20

Article about Jenny Tillotson's research and long-term career at CSM

Scentient beings and the external nervous system: ancient memories for fashion futures

To preserve one document about mankind for one million years . . . . A group of academics from the Sciences and Arts gather at KIST (Korea Institute of Science) in Germany to discuss the preservation of a 'human document' and what this might look like: what is human culture? what to include? top achievements or everyday life? textbooks? wikipedia? opinion? controversial topics? different geographical origins. how to document? language? line drawings? binary code? films and music? teaching through multiple languages? primary school textbooks? scientific encoding tables? where to put it? in a museum, visible to all? billions of copies? on the moon? in a desert or a city center? near geographically defined spots, Mariana trench, Ayers rock, Easter island? Gizeh, Xi‘an, Stonehenge? how to structure the document? linear text? large number of small chapters? puzzle? how to integrate a clock? radioactive isotopes? describing astronomical events? on what material? monocrystalline silicon? embedding in amber? DNA of a living organis

STEMNET

At a presentation for the Cambridge Science Festival, Jenny talked to a group of Year 9 students about how themes that had been futuristic in famous works of science fiction, such as Star Wars and Star Trek, are now becoming reality. Jenny is also working on a schools project using microelectronics embedded in wallpaper or artwork

Smell the colour of the rainbow

This paper explores a new 21st century body media multi sensory ‘rainbow’, introducing computerized scent-output systems worn on the body for fashion, wellbeing and health applications. The rainbow merges technology and fashion with natural fragrances using the therapeutic power of essential oils to reflect the colours of the rainbow. The aim is to enhance mood and improve lifestyle, and will be placed alongside those in vogue such as alternative healing practices. It offers a fully personalized, controllable ‘scent bubble’ experience which is intimate in nature and activated by the user alone from a collection of hightech jewellery and clothing. Designed for psychological end benefits and as a luxury fashion item, this collection can be programmed to deliver a palette of fragrances, depending on emotion, mood, occasion and time of day. Building on earlier work on ‘eScent®’ (Tillotson et al, 2006), minute delivery mechanisms can produce a selection of aromatic molecules in controlled ways, responding to personal needs. If combined with biometric sensors that measure stress indicators, soothing scents could be released whenever the stress levels exceed a certain threshold. Similarly, refreshing and revitalising scents can be used to fight fatigue and boost selfesteem. The ultimate goal is to embed electronic nose sensors within the structure of clothing to sniff stress and diseases. Using colour in conjunction with therapeutic fragrances, gives the wearer a visual aid to alleviating their physiological and emotional state. State of the art technology, 21st century design features and the healing powers of nature combine to produce a fundamentally simple concept of creating a positive personal space on this highly charged 21st century planet we all share

Scent By A Wireless Web

‘Scent Whisper’ is a jewellery project that provides a new way to send a scented message. The two pieces focus on a spider and the defence mechanism in bombardier beetles that squirt predators with a high-pressure jet of boiling liquid in a rapid-fire action. The devices involve microfluidics and wireless technology that link a remote sensor (a spider) with a fragrance-dispensing unit (a bombardier beetle) to create two items of jewellery that constitute the ‘wireless web’. A message is ‘scent by a wireless web’’ from a spider to a bombardier beetle brooch, that sprays a minute sample of fragrance. The purpose is to benefit human wellbeing, through olfaction stimulation of the autonomic nervous system, and as a novel communication system to send an aroma ‘message’ that could be healing (lavender), protective (insect repellent), seductive (pheromones) informative or communicative. The user whispers a secret message into a spider brooch, which transmits the message to a beetle brooch worn by an admirer. The spider’s sensor, implanted in its abdomen records the humidity of her breath and releases scent from the beetle onto a localized area, creating a personal ‘scent bubble’. About this conference: Wearable Futures was an interdisciplinary conference, aiming to bring together practitioners, inventors, and theorists in the field of soft technology and wearables including those concerned with fashion, textiles, sportswear, interaction design, media and live arts, medical textiles, wellness, perception and psychology, IPR, polymer science, nanotechnology, military, and other relevant research strands. Examining how some broad generic questions could be explored in relation to wearable technology the conference referred to but was not restricted to: aesthetics and design, function and durability versus market forces; the desires, needs and realities of wearable technologies; technology and culture; simplicity and sustainability; design for wearability; wearables as theatre and wearables as emotional 'tools'. Wearable Futures actively aimed to encourage debate, discussion and the formation of collaborative projects across a wide range of disciplines. Key fundamental questions across the conference in relation to wearables were: What is out there? Who wants it? What do they want? How is it achieved? Keynotes were drawn from the field of fashion and textiles through Suzanne Lee and Sarah E. Braddock Clarke; interactive design through Chris Baber; and design and computational arts through Joanna Berzowska. These diverse speakers provided an overview for the wide range of papers, poster and exhibits (over 60) presented in the panels and exhibition covering four broad themes drawn from strands taken from the initial call: Technology and Culture; Aesthetics and Making; Design for Wearability; and Desires, Need and Reality. The conference set out to highlight the growing arena for wearable technologies in an interdisciplinary context and also to look at the positive and negative applications of technology in this context. This was enhanced by the inclusion of an exhibition, supported by the Arts Council of Wales, which ensured that there was space for the rhetoric and the reality of the field to be discussed concurrently. Research within the Smart Clothes Wearable Technologies Group at University of Wales proposes the end-user as key to its practice and this conference reflected that in the approach to selection of papers and exhibits. The conference ensured that the full landscape of the field in 2005 was reflected through practitioners in design, art, craft, science, technology, cultural theory & performance, thus taking the subject beyond 80's and 90's research in which, for example, the work of Steve Mann and MIT put the individual researcher at the centre. Prototypes were an essential component to the conference and curated into the exhibition, which in 2005, in contrast to Mann, shows a focus on making the technology appear seamless rather than celebrating it through high visibility. One year on from Wearable Futures, research in the field seems to have expanded out into other areas of technology and practice with further conferences, applications and publications reflecting these developments. As 2010 becomes the present rather than the future (see Sarah E. Braddock Clarke and Marie OMahony, Tecnho Textiles: Revolutionary Fabrics for Fashion & Design, Thames and Hudson, 1997), what will the realities of wearables, smart materials and technology be in the next ten years? Wearable Futures generated a starting point for this area of debate; a key emerging strand being the focus on the body and its relationship to technology. Cyborg culture is being revisited but the concerns and relationship with the technology are different from the ones of 20 years ago. New materials evolving through Biotech and Nanoscience have the potential to supersede the machine and/or electronic driven devices, contributing to the design and creation of 'new flesh' or carrier of technology. These applications are being explored by creatives, academics and cultural theorists, whilst being applied to prototypes and industry with the end user in mind. Wearable Futures was a window on that changing role in 2005

Design as a means of exploring the emotional component of scent

This paper demonstrates how industrial designers can generate engaging solutions by applying new technology to the area of scent-delivery through the use of practice-based research. It discusses works by Jason Morenikeji, Nick Rhodes and other designers contrasting these with developments in the scent and nano-technology industries. The paper also presents a series of designs by industrial designer Ben Hughes, namely ‘Fontenay aux Roses.’ It also includes a collection of wearable, smart interactive scent delivery devices designed for Jenny Tillotson’s e-Scent research project at CSM. 'Fontenay aux Roses 1' is a wearable bag-type device that houses a battery and pump unit to deliver three types of scent, controllable by the user. The prototype was made by award-winning bag designer Ann Chui. Fontenay is a brooch -type device that attaches to a garment with a magnetic snap-fastening. Three different snap-on covers show how the device might be customised by the user, branded by the scent manufacturer, or added to by a third-party. In both its design and its co-engineering by Murray Tidmarsh and Ben Hughes, it is an exploration of the use of rapid-manufacturing technology for this type of object. This work has evolved to incorporate devices for insect repellent under the title “E.Mos”, two of which Ben Hughes designed and created the prototype for

RCUK Business Plan competition

Abstract: Sensory Design & Technology Ltd (SD&T) is seeking investment to develop and sell eScent® jewellery at a retailer in time for Christmas 2 012. The company mission is to enhance the ‘wellbeing’ of women. Women are having children later in life; they want to stay young, feel good and look good for a longer period of time and their spending power is at its greatest between the ages of 35-45. The target market is ‘wellbeing’ which has been on the increase in recent years. It is currently valued at £212 million in the UK and set to rise. There is increased media attention and consumer focus on environmentally friendly ‘eco’ products which are also pushing the growth of this market. This is increased by regulation to ensure product claims are valid due to fake ‘wellbeing’ claims. There are more than 8.5 million people in the UK who survive on as little as four hours of sleep a night. Women particularly find the juggling act of holding down a job and family life extremely challenging. Half of employed mothers reported sleep deprivation causing acute levels of stress and placing tremendous burden on marriages. Products to improve sleep grew by 10 per cent in 2009 and are worth £38 million in the UK. By 2014, sales of such products are expected to reach £45.3 million. This need is met by selling eScent®; scent dispensing jewellery that is solvent-free, reduces anxiety, improves sleep, rejuvenates the mind and is kinder to the skin. The way people use scent today in almost all applications is poorly targeted, inefficient and wasteful. eScent® is for everyday use; it is a high-tech product that is programmed to deliver a ‘wardrobe of fragrances’ to improve ‘wellbeing’, help relax and unwind. eScent® is fabricated from a built-in microfluidic device and delivers a personalised scent therapy experience, focussed solely for the user – day and night. It offers a patented, timed/controlled therapeutic scent dispenser which can also be placed on a bedside table, a child’s car seat or crib. The business model lies in SD&T designing the products, distributed initially by an exclusive launch at a retailer. The secondary market is for SD&T to sell replaceable cartridges as consumable products which are expected to be considerably greater than the primary market. At a later stage, the company will expand further into other market opportunities including medical, mobile phones, consumer products and apparel. The comp any would seek further investment from leading fashion designers to miniaturise eScent® and integrate within buttons to deliver their own signature perfumes. SD&T has an experienced management team with the relevant skills for this business in Fashion, Fragrance, Microfluidics and Biotechnology. The Chairman designate of the company is the former Chairman of the Fragrance Foundation. The company was founded by Dr Jenny Tillotson, a Senior Research Fellow in Fashion at Central Saint Martins and Visiting Scholar at the University of Cambridge. Dr Tillotson is acknowledged as a pioneer in the growing science and art of Scentsory Design®; computerised scent-output systems worn on the body for fashion and ‘wellbeing’ applications. She gained commercial experience working for a Wearable Technology company spinout from the MIT Media Lab

Scent whisper

Scent Whisper is a jewellery set integrated with wireless sensor networks that offer social and therapeutic value in a desirable context. The jewellery incorporates sensors and microfluidics to initiate fragrance delivery, depending on the sensor response. A wireless humidity sensor is used to trigger scent output in these proof-of-concept devices. Future devices will use sensors to detect stress physiologically and release benefit chemicals in controlled ways responding to personal needs. About this conference: MEMS technology (micro-electro-mechanical-systems) is advancing rapidly, and over the last five years has allowed the construction of many integrated systems, including (for example) novel micro and nano structured materials, sensors based on movable mechanical components and self powered autonomous devices. Many involve nanotechnology. These components are allowing systems that were once confined to the laboratory to find new applications with a strong commercial potential. UK activity is now rapidly increasing, after a relatively slow start compared to the rest of the advanced industrial nations. The aim of this event is to bring together UK expertise in MEMS, to introduce the advantage of MEMS process technology and to highlight developments. The topics will be relevant to companies engaged in sensor manufacture and process control, equipment manufacturers for the semiconductor industry and academics engaged in MEMS, nanotechnology and sensor researc