This MIT Prototype Translates Images Into Fragrances That Your Mind Remembers Better - Yanko Design

"At a time when memories are increasingly flattened into folders, feeds, and cloud backups, a new experimental device from MIT Media Lab proposes a far more intimate archive: scent. Developed by Cyrus Clarke, the Anemoia Device is a speculative yet functional prototype that translates photographs into bespoke fragrances using generative AI, inviting users not to view memories, but to inhabit them through the body."

"The choice of scent as a medium is deliberate. Among the human senses, smell is widely understood to be the most directly linked to memory and emotion, bypassing rational processing and triggering vivid recall almost instantaneously. Unlike images or text, scent has the ability to summon atmosphere, mood, and feeling without explanation, making it a particularly powerful carrier for both personal and imagined memories. The Anemoia Device is built around this sensory potency."

"Physically, the prototype is organised as a vertical apparatus with three distinct sections. At the top, users insert an analogue photograph, a deliberate design decision that slows interaction and foregrounds tactility in contrast to screen-based memory consumption. The middle section houses an AI-powered computer that analyses the image using a vision language model. At the bottom, a series of pumps connected to fragrance reservoirs mix and release a custom scent."

"Importantly, the Anemoia Device is not designed as a fully automated image-to-scent translator. Instead, it positions the user as an active participant in shaping the final outcome. After the photograph is interpreted, users interact with three tactile dials that guide the AI's understanding. The first establishes a point of view within the photograph, which could be a person or a non-living element such as a tree, bicycle,"

The Anemoia Device translates analogue photographs into bespoke fragrances by combining vision-language analysis with scent synthesis. Users insert a physical photograph, which slows interaction and emphasizes tactility. An AI analyses the image and users shape the outcome via three tactile dials that establish a point of view and guide the fragrance generation. The prototype is organised vertically with top image input, a middle AI processing section, and a bottom array of pumps linked to fragrance reservoirs that mix and release scent. Scent is chosen for its direct link to memory and emotion, enabling atmosphere and feeling to be summoned without rational explanation.

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