Kathy Wang Named a Finalist for 2022 SXSW Innovation Awards for VR Project, Smell Revived

Congratulations to Yuting Wang (Kathy, MDes Fall’ 22), whose project, Smell Revived, was selected as a finalist in the Wearable Tech category for the 24th annual SXSW (South by Southwest) Innovation Awards. She will showcase her project at the SXSW Innovation Awards Finalist Showcase in March, at the Austin Convention Center during the South by Southwest® (SXSW®) Conference and Festival. 

Smell Revived is a virtual reality smell training system for patients with smell dysfunction. Kathy and her team strengthen the visual and aural stimulation related to scent by designing corresponding unique lifelike VR experiences. By bringing Virtual Reality into smell therapy, they make the therapy experience more fun, engaging, and effective. Users can visit virtual environments to recall the origin of a scent. Their VR system also quantifies the progress of recovery by designing unique scent quizzes. Therefore patients can keep an accurate first-hand record of their smell training journey.

This project received the Jacobs Institute Innovation Catalysts Grants in fall 2021 and continued the iteration using this grant. Compared to the first version which only has one type of scent, the current iteration of the prototype can deliver three types of scent.

Smell Revived was also recognized by the Red Dot Award, European Product Design Award, Design Intelligence Award, and the San Francisco Design Week. Smell Revived was also named a finalist for the Auggie Awards, VR Awards, Dezeen Awards, and UK National Technology Award.

(The current prototype: scent-delivery device, paired with VR training software (multi-scent version)