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Karin Zhang Wei

User Experience Design MSc

As a UX designer with a business background, I craft impactful experiences that deliver a "win-win" for users, businesses, and the planet – balancing user needs, business goals, and environmental responsibility.

We abuse land because we regard it as a commodity belonging to us. When we see land as a community to which we belong, we may begin to use it with love and respect

Aldo Leopold

Empathy Towards Nature

The Role of Olfactory Stimuli in Affecting Nature Connectedness and Pro-environmental Behaviour Intentions Through Immersive Virtual Reality

The aim of this study was twofold:

1) To examine how olfaction, specifically ambient scents, can be leveraged to promote greater care for nature among individuals and 2) to understand how prior experience with virtual reality may influence users’ emotional responses.

Appropriately, the following research questions were addressed in this study:

RQ1a) What is the effect of olfactory stimuli on nature connectedness and pro-environmental behaviour intentions in the context of iVR?

RQ1b) Are there any statistically significant differences in the level of nature connectedness before and after exposure to olfactory stimuli?

RQ2) Does prior experience with VR affect the level of empathy and nature connectedness across iVR experiences with and without olfactory stimuli?

Prototype Development Process employing Design Thinking

Exiting theories around body transfer and spatial presence informed the decisions on selecting an iVR experience and incorporating multiple scents to the iVR experience, aligning with the visual changes.

Emphathy and Define: Selection of The Immersive Virtual Reality (iVR) Experience ‘Tree’.

For this study, an existing VR experience called ‘Tree’ was selected, allowing the participant to experience a rainforest tree’s lifecycle first-hand through the body transfer of a rainforest tree. Filmmakers and academics at MIT designed the experience, which was purchased for this study through Viveport.

The first “Birth” scene of the tree seed growing out of the ground
The second “Growth” scene of the tree growing in the rainforest
The third “Death” scene of the tree burning up

Ideation and Prototype: The Scent Delivery System

Step 1: I used the nano diffuser to measure out three holes on a piece of foam board – allowing three different scents to be released.
Step 2: Once the holes were cut out, an equally big piece of plastic sheet was glued onto the bottom of the foam piece.
Step 3: I opened up the diffusers and soldered wires to its circuit board so that the relay module could switch it on and off
Step 4: I connected an Arduino Uno to a breadboard which was then connected to the relay module
Step 4: I attached the Arduino, the breadboard, and the relay module to another piece of foam board, which was then attached to the first foam board.

Check out my Arduino code here:

Formative Testing

The five participants in the validation workshop were asked to evaluate 12 different scents.
The scents were presented on a scent stick dipped in a water-aroma oil mixture.
Three scents were shortlisted to be used in the final prototype. However, only two scents were used in the experiment as one of them was found to be incongruent in the subsequent user testing session.
Participant exposed to olfactory stimuli during the experiment
The mid-fi scent release device

It should come as no surprise that human activities threaten our planet and communities. The following photos are taken in South Africa during this module.

Feel free to check out my other projects 🙂

My Portfolio Website

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