Kaorium Pūnaewele Hoʻāʻo ʻAla by Toshiharu Kurisu - Scentmatic

Kaorium Pūnaewele Hoʻāʻo ʻAla by Toshiharu Kurisu - Scentmatic is a highly esteemed winner of the very prestigious 2025 A' Design Award Kala in Hoʻolālā Pilina, Launa a me ʻIke Mea Hoʻohana Competition Category.

KalaPilina· 2025

Kaorium Pūnaewele Hoʻāʻo ʻAla

by Toshiharu Kurisu - Scentmatic

Client: Scentmatic Inc.

A' Design Award Kala Winner in Pilina Category

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Verified Award Winner

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Visit Site View at A' Design Award Press Release Award Badge

Colors

The Design

About Kaorium Pūnaewele Hoʻāʻo ʻAla

ʻO kēia ʻōnaehana hōʻike kuʻikuʻi e hāʻawi ana i ke ala hou e ʻike a leʻaleʻa ai i nā ʻala ma o ka hui pū ʻana o ka ʻala a me ka ʻōlelo. Ma ka hoʻohana ʻana i ka ʻenehana mana AI ʻo Kaorium, e hōʻike mākaʻike ana i nā ʻano o nā ʻala, hiki i nā mea hoʻohana ke ʻeli i loko o kā lākou mau manaʻo pilikino no nā ʻala a ʻimi i nā huaʻōlelo wehewehe e kani like ana me kā lākou mau hoʻomaopopo. Pela e hiki ai iā lākou ke loaʻa i nā ʻala e kūlike pono ana me kā lākou mau ʻano pilikino.

The Recognition

About the A' Design Award Kala

Ua lanakila ka hoʻolālā Kaorium Pūnaewele Hoʻāʻo ʻAla i ka A' Design Award Kala, he ʻike hoʻohanohano nui loa i hāʻawi ʻia i nā hoʻolālā kiʻekiʻe loa, nani a kupaianaha. He mau hana ʻālohilohi loa a hana noʻeau nui nā lanakila Kala e hōʻike ana i ka loea, ka makakoho a me ka ʻoi aku o ka noʻonoʻo o kā lākou poʻe hoʻolālā. Manaʻo ʻia ʻo ka hoʻolālā Kaorium Pūnaewele Hoʻāʻo ʻAla he hana kupaianaha, kūlana ʻoi aku, ʻoihana kiʻekiʻe a hou loa. ʻO kēia hoʻolālā i lanakila i ka A' Design Award Kala he mea hoʻokumu kūpono loa, mahalo ʻia e hāʻawi i ka pōmaikaʻi a hoʻoneʻe i nā palena o ka hana noʻeau, ka ʻepekema, ka hoʻolālā a me ka ʻenehana. He mea i ʻeleu ʻia e nā mea he nui ka hoʻolālā Kaorium Pūnaewele Hoʻāʻo ʻAla e hoʻāla i ka makemake, lawe mai i nā manaʻo maikaʻi a hoʻāla i ka kamahaʻo a me ka mahalo.

Behind the Design

Press Kit

Credits, team members and technical details provided by the designer.

Unique Properties: This interactive signage uses AI to put scents into words and visualize the characteristics of each scent, offering new ways to encounter and enjoy scents.
To allow users to focus on the images evoked by the scent and words, visual elements are kept to a minimum, with text floating up on the tabletop for a simple UI.
Finally, the desired scent is presented in a scene like a "babbling brook of fresh greenery," encouraging emotional engagement.
Dimensions & Packaging: External dimensions W1083.5 × D718 × H850 mm
Weight 80kg

Using RFID, this new sensory experience combines scent and words, and the physical and digital, creating easy-to-understand and friendly interactions.
Tags: Kaorium, AI, fragrance, signage, device
Production Technology: Everyone perceives scents differently.
Kaorium puts these diverse perceptions into words and presents them, but it wants to respect "how the user themselves felt" and not unilaterally limit its interpretation.
With cognitive diversity gaining attention in the context of education and business, Kaorium believes it can contribute to fostering a culture of respect and mutual acceptance of differences in how people perceive scents.
Design Challenge: When the prototype was actually completed, it became clear that it would be difficult to elevate the scent into a valuable experience simply by describing it in words.
Rather than assigning a fragrance professional, they took a more consumer-oriented approach, pursuing what consumers "want" and collaborated with the sake, sports, and education sectors to improve social and experiential value.
Research: In order to verify the value of KAORIUM from a neuroscience perspective, joint research was conducted with the University of Tokyo.
In a demonstration experiment at a fragrance shop, the entrance rate increased by 139% and the purchase rate increased by 287% compared to before the introduction.
The use of KAORIUM overseas is also increasing, including an exhibition at the London Design Festival 2023 and its introduction at The Fragrance Shop, the largest in the UK.
Inspiration: This project began with the vision of "enriching people's sensibilities and senses through fragrance."
Fragrances enrich our lives, but scents are vague and difficult to grasp, and each person perceives them differently.
For many people, it is difficult to choose a scent that suits them from the vast selection available, so we thought that "words" would be the key to creating an experience that allows many people, including beginners, to enjoy scents.
Project Duration: The project started in Japan in November 2019. The extrasensory experience of scent that Kaorium brings can be applied to various fields such as education, food and drink, art and entertainment, and shopping. Currently, we are developing tools for sensory education, food and drink experiences, and purchasing experiences for brick-and-mortar retail stores. We are researching further possibilities for use.
Operation Flow: Using natural language processing, Kaorium can replace scents with simpler expressions that beginners can understand, such as "soft," "soapy," and "clean."
Existing methods to support product selection include "diagnostic content," which suggests products that suit users by answering questions in a questionnaire, but KAORIUM provides an experience that allows users to actually smell different scents and delve deeper into how they feel, creating a more satisfying experience.
Patents: Trademark (2023) 2022-082558 SCENTMATIC.Inc
Team Members: producer/director: Toshiharu Kurisu
designer: Yoshiyuki Habashima
Image Credits: Image #1: SCENTMATIC.Inc, Kaorium, 2025.
Image #2: SCENTMATIC.Inc, Kaorium, 2025.
Image #3: SCENTMATIC.Inc, Kaorium, 2025.
Image #4: SCENTMATIC.Inc, Kaorium, 2025.
Image #5: SCENTMATIC.Inc, Kaorium, 2025.