Motivation and emotion/Book/2024/Sense hacking

Sense hacking:
How can manipulating sensory experiences enhance happiness?

Overview

Case study scenario

Imagine this... It's the first day of a well-deserved holiday ... the first thing you hear is the metallic clang of an alarm tone which startles you into a panic. Your eyes open wide and you notice the sun bouncing off the busy geometric wallpaper around you. Now that you are awake, you feel how hard the mattress is and how scratchy the sheets are on your skin. Not to mention the horrible chemical smell so strong you can practically taste it.

Figure 1. Even in a beautiful environment like this, a poorly designed experience could ruin your holiday

Now imagine a hotel that has considered the design of their rooms to appeal to their customer's senses ... You're gently awoken by calming rainforest sounds, in a plush and comfortable bed with silky sheets. The blinds open slowly filling the room with warm sunlight showing all of the greenery around you. There is a hint of eucalyptus in the air from a nearby diffuser and you notice complementary herbal tea on your bedside table.

Which of these scenarios would you prefer? How might this experience influence your physical and psychological state?

Want to learn more? Pelet, Lick and Taieb (2021) explore how the Internet of Things (IoT) technologies can enhance sensory interactions in upscale European hotels.

This example highlights the importance of being aware of our sensory environment and how it can influence how we feel. There are many people who have unknowingly experienced the benefits of a positive relationship between senses and emotions. This could be staying in a well-designed hotel, being drawn to nature and green spaces, lighting a candle to relax or playing mood music.

This chapter covers the concept of sense hacking and how it can be used to understand and improve emotional wellbeing using psychological science. This will include exploring what sense hacking is, how it relates to emotion and happiness, practical positive techniques, relevant psychological concepts and what the future of sense hacking might look like.

Focus questions

What is sense hacking?
How can sense hacking make you happier?
Which psychological concepts are relevant to sense hacking?
How can we foster or further explore sense hacking in the future?

What is sense hacking?

Figure 2. The sensory homunculus visualises how our senses map to our brain structure

The term "sense hacking" could automatically be associated with computer hacking or manipulating input for an outcome however it actually refers to using our senses to influence how we feel. The term has gained popularity following a book by Charles Spence, which explores using the power of our senses for happier and healthier living.

This chapter refers to senses as the five basic senses of sight, smell, touch, taste and sound. Hacking is also used with the positive connotation of a 'life hack' or changing something for a better outcome.

Sense hacking covers:

a range of approaches and techniques (natural and technological) used to optimise sensory stimuli to improve wellbeing
manipulating or enhancing senses
combining multiple sensory i
increasing awareness of our senses and emotions.

The application of these techniques can lead to happiness, which is considered a concept that covers positive emotions, satisfaction, subjective wellbeing and quality of life.

To help understand the underlying mechanisms of sense hacking, see the Sensory homunculus (Figure 1) which shows how body parts are represented in the sensory cortex of our brains. This is a useful resource as it explains how the brain collects, organises and processes sensory information.[factual?]

How can sense hacking make you happier?

There is a broad range of evidence that discusses the relationship between how senses interact with emotions. For example, sensory experiences can have strong effects on how we feel, and how we feel can affect how we perceive sensory information (Rouby, Fournel, & Bensafi, 2016). Each sense can provoke different emotional responses, however sometimes senses can interact with each other and cause combined emotional responses. Factors that shape this experience and moderate this relationship can include physiological responses, situational and emotional context and cultural and individual differences. This relationship is important as it provides the basis of how and why hacking our senses can make us happier and how individual senses or combinations of specific senses can provoke a positive emotional effect.[factual?]

See Table 1 for examples of how each primary sense can be hacked for a positive experience, [grammar?] the supporting evidence will be expanded upon further down in the section.

Table 1.

Sense Hacking Techniques

Sense	Experience	Technique and outcome
Sight	A beautiful view	Colours can be manipulated and used to change and improve mood (Elliot, 2015).
Sound	Mood music	Uplifting music has been found to improve mood and boost cognitive performance (Thoma et al., 2013).
Smell	Comforting smells	Certain essential oils can assist with emotional regulation and overall well-being (Lee & Kim, 2024).
Taste	Pleasant tastes	Pleasant food and taste experiences have been found to improve mood and happiness (Johnson & Martinez, 2024).
Touch	Immersive experiences and sensory soothing	Immersive experiences have been found to increase overall happiness (Wang & Chen, 2023) and in some cases reduce pain (Hoffman et. al, 2003).

Sight

Elliot (2015) examined the relationship between colour perception and emotional responses and found that different colours can affect how we think and feel. Exposure to green spaces and natural environments was associated with balance and tranquillity and led to lower stress levels and a better mood. Whereas colourful artwork provoked feelings of joy and excitement which engaged participants cognitively and lead to creativity. These sensory experiences led to reduced indicators of stress (i.e. cortisol levels and heart rate measures). An example of colourful and engaging artwork can be found in Figure 2.

Figure 3. How might colourful artwork like this appeal to your senses?

Sound

A study found that after listening to uplifting music, participants reported a reduction in negative emotions and a significant increase in positive affect (Thoma et al., 2013). This shows strong support for a simple strategy for individuals to use to improve mood and therefore positive wellbeing. Participants also performed better in cognitive tasks especially those involving memory and attention. This indicates that music can influence emotional states and enhance cognitive functioning. Therefore simple actions such as changing background music can have an effect on mood.

Smell

A randomised controlled trial was used to investigate the efficacy of aromatherapy in emotional regulation, finding that exposure to lavender and bergamot scents resulted in lower levels of anxiety and stress (Lee & Kim, 2024). Inhaling essential oils stimulated olfactory receptors which triggered emotional responses and positive memories. This connection enabled feelings of relaxation and comfort which lead to improved emotional wellbeing. This also demonstrates how susceptible individuals may also be to sensory marketing when walking about public spaces, something as subtle as the air we breathe can influence how we think and feel.

Taste

Researchers used the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS) to measure mood changes and happiness before and after tasting neutral, sweet and sour foods (Johnson & Martinez, 2024). Following gustatory sensory manipulation, there were significant increases in happiness and positive affect in the sweet tasting group compared to the control group. Overall, enjoyable tastes with positive associations can lead to improved mood and happiness and therefore should be incorporated into dietary routines where appropriate.

Touch

Figure 4. Could you imagine how relaxing it would be to float through another universe using virtual reality?

Virtual reality (VR) has been found to be an effective intervention to assist with reducing perceived pain and physiological stress responses by forming a distraction from the pain (Wang & Chen, 2023). They also found that VR experiences also enhanced happiness and wellbeing through the use of immersive storytelling which engaged multiple senses within a single experience. See Figure 4 for an example of how VR can be utilised.

While VR is a digital form of tactile experience, Parker and Adams (2023) found that participants who were exposed to soft textures experienced a reduction in stress response due to the evoked feelings of safety, comfort and calmness. This demonstrates that manipulating touch sense through textures can also influence emotions.

Which psychological concepts are relevant to sense hacking?

There is a range of relevant psychological theories and constructs that relate to sensory processing, emotions and the interactions between them. There is less research on the concept of sense hacking from a positive psychology perspective as it has primarily been related to sensory marketing techniques. This section will focus on the areas that relate to self-help and development. By raising awareness of useful industry concepts and psychological research, individuals can be more aware of how their senses can be used for their own personal benefit as per the concepts and questions found in Table 2.

Table 2. Summary of relevant sense hacking concepts

Theory or concept	Guiding questions
Multisensory Integration	How can sensory perceptions shape our emotional experiences? Does combining multiple senses during a single experience enhance outcomes?
Biofeedback and emotional regulation	How can we use physiological indicators to experience and understand emotion? How does the environment and our sensory experience impact our ability to regulate our own emotions?
Embodied cognition	How do our senses influence how we think and make sense of the world?
Positive psychology	How can we use the relationship between senses and emotions to help us flourish and live better lives?

Multisensory integration and engagement

While there has been a significant amount of research into each sense, there is now a growing collection of how multiple senses can interact and form a single perception and experience. Senses can combine to enhance perception and interaction with the environment, this relationship enables a deeper and richer experience (Calvert, Spence, & Stein, 2004).

Multisensory interactions can occur through the physical environment or through carefully designed interactive customer experiences (Pelet, Lick and Taieb, 2021). For example, when eating a meal, different senses are engaged to determine what the food looks like, smells like, tastes like and background sounds. These senses come together to determine how flavour is perceived (Spence, 2011) and therefore can impact your overall experience and emotional response. Senses interacting and influencing each other can also be referred to as cross modal effects or correspondences and relate to the cognitive and neural facilitation of multisensory information (Zhou & Chen, 2020). Taken together. multisensory integration is relevant to sense hacking as it provides more evidence as to which senses can be combined and utilised for more positive experiences.

Case study reflection

Figure 5. How might your experience in this airport lounge differ to being jammed into rows of seats outside?

Do you think you would perceive your own wellbeing differently based on the airport lounge you're in?

You may have had your senses hacked without even knowing. This can occur through sensory marketing and environment design. For example, Kim et al. (2021) conducted research that involved combining multiple sensory dimensions to create a holistic travel experience in an airport lounge. This included calming background music, interior décor involving neutral colours, pleasant scents, comfortable furniture and high quality food and beverages. Results showed that this sensory experience enhanced passengers perceptions of wellbeing due to the physical and emotional state they were in.

Reflect on whether you've ever taken notice of design elements like this and whether you think it would impact how you feel and perceive your overall wellbeing.

Biofeedback and emotional regulation

Sense hacking can also present as a biological feedback technique as it helps individuals tune into physiological processes to modify them and regulate their psychological responses. This process can also be referred to as interoceptive awareness, which is the ability to perceive internal bodily sensations (Price & Hooven, 2018). Friedman and Thum (2016) conducted a review of biofeedback in a range of mental health conditions and found moderate to large effects for improving treatments and symptomatology. By bringing awareness to bodily functions through modalities such as heart rate variability, temperature, neurofeedback and electromyography, participants were empowered to engage in self regulation strategies. This study shows promise for integrating these strategies into therapeutic settings but also provides evidence that suggests that the biofeedback component of sense hacking can lead to positive outcomes in the general population. Utilising biofeedback in sense hacking, can help individuals to identify which techniques work best for them. Biofeedback and sense hacking techniques can be combined to create optimal environments and settings for emotional regulation and also allow for the personalisation of techniques.

Embodied cognition

Different sensory inputs can interact and shape our cognitive experiences. Embodied cognition explores the relationship between our sensory experiences and their influence on how we operate and experience emotions. One distinct perspective sees the human body as a source of information that shapes cognition, this view describes the importance of sensory experiences and feedback (Wilson, 2002). A vast range of research explores embodied cognition through retail experiences that combine affective, behavioural, sensory and intellectual factors to create cohesive brand experiences. Utilising sensory paths, retailers attempt to create emotional bonds that lead to satisfaction and loyalty. Using sensory and emotional marketing, they often target sight (vision) as the most powerful sense in detecting environmental changes and smell (scent) to evoke vivid memories (Kodzoman, Čuden, & Cok, 2023). This demonstrates how sensory interactions can improve mood and overall wellbeing by eliciting cognitive associations and beliefs.

Bringing it all together using positive psychology

Positive psychology relates to proactive efforts to personally develop, flourish and live a better life, it encourages practices that improve wellbeing, emotional regulation and mindfulness. Using the psychological concepts discussed in this section, reflect on how these can come together under the banner of positive psychology.

For example, individuals who engage in activities that appeal and heighten their senses, can become fully immersed and enter a state of flow where their focus and engagement in tasks is optimised. This immersive experience and state of flow and savouring sensory experiences can lead to positive wellbeing and a more fulfilling and meaningful life.

How can sense hacking help us shape our sensory perceptions, combine senses for enhanced outcomes, regulate our emotions and make sense of the world? Use the principles of positive psychology to help you reflect.

Definitions and concepts, such as Csikszentmihalyi's (1990) state of flow, were adapted and referenced from Peterson & Seligman (2004).

How can we foster or further explore sense hacking in the future?

Forms of sensory manipulation have long been used by commercial entities to design customer experiences focused on generating profit (Spence, 2011). Individuals can leverage the same techniques used by industry to gain their own personal benefits. This has a positive benefit at both the individual and societal level. More multisensory research is required to understand how senses can be manipulated in people's daily lives to improve emotional wellbeing.

As technology continues to improve and challenge modern society, there is an increasing need for individuals to build awareness of, and reconnection with, their senses before deciding where and when technology can assist with sense hacking. Wadhwa and Palvia (2018) highlight the need to reflect on the use of technology and how it may impact psychological well being, stating that an over reliance may cause negative consequences. There are opportunities to integrate virtual reality (VR) into therapeutic environments to assist with the assessment and treatment of mental health disorders. Examples include VR technologies successfully facilitating exposure therapy to challenging scenarios (Freeman et al., 2017) and improving patient symptomology and engagement (Riva et al., 2016).

Fostering the benefits of sense hacking also relates to creative applications of existing technologies for new purposes. For example, wearable technologies can now help people understand, regulate then express their emotions to others. These devices can provide individuals with biofeedback which can assist with emotional regulation, reducing anxiety and improving mood and resilience (Friedman et al., 2016). Ugur et al. (2011) outline different methods to translate emotions into design with the example of a bracelet that allows you to express your mood through different colours. This prompts both the user to acknowledge their own emotional state, express it outwardly and send social information to those around them.

Future research should investigate individual and cultural differences in sensory experiences and emotions. This could be achieved through integrating technologies using a risk-based approach, providing more education to ensure information and techniques are accessible and determining how to modify sense hacking techniques for those with sensory sensitivity conditions.

Conclusion

Sense hacking refers to a range of techniques used to optimise and enhance sensory stimuli to improve our emotional state and wellbeing. Extensive sensory processing research exists however there is limited research exploring how multiple senses influence and interact to improve emotional wellbeing. A majority of cross sensory research exists in the commercial field and relates to sensory marketing or interactive design. Sharing these insights with the general population would enable individuals to build, design and apply strategies to positively impact their emotions.

Manipulating sensory experiences can enhance happiness in many ways. By understanding how to interact with basic senses, individuals can partake in sensory activities that provoke positive associations and feelings. These activities can be as simple as being in nature through to multisensory virtual reality or wearable technologies. Psychological concepts such as multisensory integration, biofeedback and emotional regulation and embodied cognition, can be incorporated into pragmatic practices that form positive routines. This can result in individuals experiencing happiness which can impact how they think, feel and behave in society.

The benefits of sense hacking can be fostered and improved by further exploring these concepts using technology, understanding individual and cultural differences and completing more research using the positive psychology perspective. Rather than this research being used for marketing opportunities, the applied benefits of this research can raise awareness and assist individuals to flourish in their everyday lives.

Similar to all psychological interventions and techniques, what works for one person may not work for the next. This highlights the need for customisation and experimentation at the individual level. The practical take home messages from this chapter can be found in the feature box below.

Your call to action!

Using the planner in Figure 6, your challenge is to choose and embed a selection of sense hacking techniques into your daily routine for two weeks, capturing your mood and happiness levels along the way.

Consider:

What senses you can combine for an enhanced experience?
What individual and cultural differences might apply when you choose your activities?
How you might utilise technology or digital tools in some of your activities?
How you might measure your emotional state and happiness levels?

You can then come up with your own conclusions about how this positively impacts your emotions and experience. Consider then share your ideas about how sense hacking could be further explored in the future.

Figure 6 - A sense hacking planner adapted from Burn's Sensual Awareness Inventory (1998) which was designed as a tool to capture enjoyable and comforting activities

References

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Calvert, G. A., Spence, C., & Stein, B. E. (2004). The Handbook of Multisensory Processes.

Elliot, A. J. (2015). Color and psychological functioning: A review of theoretical and empirical work. Frontiers in Psychology, 6, 568. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2015.00568

Freeman, D., Luke, R., Medical, M., & Tully, L. (2017). Virtual reality in the assessment and treatment of mental health disorders. Psychological Medicine, 47(5), 920-927. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0033291716002440

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Hoffman, H. G., Patterson, D. R., & Carrougher, G. J. (2003). Effectiveness of Virtual Reality-Based Pain Control with Multiple Treatments. The Clinical Journal of Pain, 19(5), 297-303.

Johnson, E. A., & Martinez, A. (2024). The Effects of Gustatory Sensory Manipulation on Mood and Happiness: A Controlled Study. Journal of Food and Emotion, 5(1), 59-75.

Kim, H.-C., Chua, B.-L., Lee, S., Boo, H.-C., & Han, H. (2021). Understanding airline travelers’ perceptions of well-being: The role of cognition, emotion, and sensory experiences in airline lounges. Journal of Air Transport Management, 95, Article 102093. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jairtraman.2021.102093

Lee, J. Y., & Kim, H. S. (2024). Aromatherapy as a Tool for Emotional Regulation: A Randomized Controlled Trial. International Journal of Aromatherapy and Wellness, 12(2), 112-126.

Parker, A., & Adams, J. (2023). Soft touch and positive mood: The effect of tactile stimuli on emotional states. Frontiers in Psychology, 14, 1001234. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1001234

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Peterson, C., & Seligman, M. E. P. (2004). Character strengths and virtues: A handbook and classification. American Psychological Association.

Price, C. J., & Hooven, C. (2018). Interoceptive awareness skills for emotion regulation: Theory and approach of mindful awareness in body-oriented therapy (MABT). Frontiers in Psychology, 9, Article 798. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.00798

Riva, G., Baños, R. M., & Botella, C. (2016). Augmented reality in clinical psychology: A brief overview. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, 19(9), 520-525. https://doi.org/10.1089/cyber.2016.0173

Rouby, C., Fournel, A., & Bensafi, M. (2016). The role of the senses in emotion. In Emotion measurement (pp. 65–81). Academic Press. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-08-100508-8.00003-5

Spence, C. (2011). The multi-sensory experience of food: What do we know? Food Quality and Preference, 22(6), 487-494. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodqual.2011.01.005

Thoma, M. V., La Marca, R., & Brönnimann, R. (2013). The Effect of Music on Mood and Cognitive Performance. Journal of Positive Psychology, 8(1), 44-55.

Ugur, S., Bordegoni, M., Wensveen, S. G. A., Mangiarotti, R., & Carulli, M. (2011). Embodiment of emotions through wearable technology. In Proceedings of the ASME 2011 International Design Engineering Technical Conferences and Computers and Information in Engineering Conference (Vol. 2, pp. 839-847). ASME. https://doi.org/10.1115/DETC2011-47845

Wadhwa, V., & Palvia, S. (2018). Is information technology hacking our happiness? Journal of Information Technology Case and Application Research, 20(3–4), 151–157. https://doi.org/10.1080/15228053.2018.1560954

Wang, Y., & Chen, S. (2023). Virtual reality experiences enhance happiness through immersive storytelling. Computers in Human Behavior, 146, 107072. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2023.107072

Wilson, M. (2002). Six views of embodied cognition. Psychological Bulletin, 128(6), 900-906. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.128.6.900

Zhou, R., & Chen, C. (2020). Crossmodal correspondences: A review. Multisensory Research, 33(2), 131-153. https://doi.org/10.1163/22134808-20191225

External links

Sensehacking, Charles Spence (Book)
Professor Charles Spence on Sensehacking (Youtube)
The science of sensory marketing (Online article)
How to hack your senses (Opinion article)