Digital scent experience in the internet of senses

This thesis explores the concept of digital scent experience within the scope of the Internet of Senses (IoS), one of the most innovative extensions of digital transformation. Among the digitalization of human senses, the sense of smell stands out as a technically complex and highly subjective modality. Accordingly, this study aims to analyze the integration of olfactory perception into digital environments through a multidimensional approach, addressing its technologies, methods, and application areas. The research focuses on the theoretical background of digital scent, electronic nose (e-nose) systems, olfactory transmission technologies, and their integration into virtual reality (VR). It also investigates the role of scent in multisensory extended reality (XR) systems and evaluates its impact on immersive user experience. A comparative analysis presented, based on a tabular evaluation of academic literature, sheds light on the diverse technological approaches and their respective advantages and shortcomings in the field of digital scent technologies. A comprehensive literature review was conducted to compare various technological approaches and identify the technical limitations, user experience challenges, and future development directions of digital scent technologies. The findings reveal that digital scent not only enhances virtual experience but also serves as a functional component in fields such as medical diagnosis, educational effectiveness, emotional influence, and marketing strategies. However, it is concluded that digital scent technology is still in a developmental stage and requires interdisciplinary collaboration and standardization. This thesis offers a holistic analysis of both the technological and human-oriented dimensions of digital scent and emphasizes its critical role in the transition from the Internet of Things (IoT) to the Internet of Senses (IoS).