Perfume Distillation
Info
Perfume Distillation is a multisensory museum experience that preserves the heritage of traditional Indian attar making through interactive storytelling. Visitors explore the centuries-old craft using projection mapping, real-time object recognition, animation, physical interaction, scent, and immersive media.
Year
2025
collaborative
NO
Services
Immersive Media, XR, Experiential Design
DURATION
The Experience:
A multisensory museum installation that reveals the hidden labour behind traditional perfume making. Visitors interact with a physical distillation setup where heat, vapour, movement and sound bring the process to life through Arduino-controlled mechanisms.
Why Multisensory:
Perfume is inherently sensory, but the final product is usually experienced only through its smell. The making of it, however, involves heat, textures, sounds, movement, and scent.
The concept explores how multiple senses could communicate different parts of the process:
Touch → handling materials and equipment
Sound → boiling, bubbling, dripping
Visual → vapour, heat and condensation
Smell → experiencing the final essence
Movement → physically performing the process
Mechanism:
The installation uses Arduino to translate the visitor's interaction into physical changes in the distillation setup. Sensors detect the interaction, triggering components such as the heat lamp, vapour effects, movement and sound to simulate the stages of the process.
Interaction 1 Heat:
The visitor initiates the distillation process through a physical interaction. An Arduino-controlled relay activates the heat lamp, gradually heating the vessel and visually representing the beginning of distillation.
Interaction 2 Mist:
As the process continues, the system triggers a mist mechanism to represent the movement of vapour through the distillation apparatus. The mist makes an otherwise invisible stage of the process physically visible to the visitor.
Final Prototype:
Process:
Reflection:
This project taught me how a space can tell a story beyond words, using materials, movement, sound and sensory experiences. I learned how making the invisible stages of a process visible can reveal the labour, time and craftsmanship behind an everyday object. With more time, I would have refined the visitor's journey and explored scent and more nuanced sensory interactions to make the experience more engaging.
OVERVIEW:
Inclusive Navigation explores how museums can become more accessible to visitors with visual impairments. Developed in collaboration with the Blind People’s Association (BPA), the project focuses on understanding the challenges of navigating museum spaces and designing an inclusive experience that encourages independent exploration, accessibility, and engagement with exhibits.
PROBLEM:
Inclusive Navigation explores how museums can become more accessible to visitors with visual impairments. Developed in collaboration with the Blind People’s Association (BPA), the project focuses on understanding the challenges of navigating museum spaces and designing an inclusive experience that encourages independent exploration, accessibility, and engagement with exhibits.
REseach & Insight:
Inclusive Navigation explores how museums can become more accessible to visitors with visual impairments. Developed in collaboration with the Blind People’s Association (BPA), the project focuses on understanding the challenges of navigating museum spaces and designing an inclusive experience that encourages independent exploration, accessibility, and engagement with exhibits.
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