Next-gen diffuser offers automated aromatherapy
Imagine having a home fragrance product that can automatically mist your living room area with natural scents based on your needs.
A New York-based startup has put together a prototype called Pium to do exactly that.
The company, also called Pium, has created what looks like a Google Home speaker, but instead of receiving voice-activating information, this device gives off an aromatic fragrance.
Described as a “next-generation smart diffuser,” according to Dezeen, Pium automates adding a scent to a home or workspace by gathering a profile of the user’s needs through an app that works in tandem with the product.
Pium analyzes data to understand what associations people make to different aromas and makes personalized recommendations.
It then pumps out an optimal fragrance based on an individual’s activities during the day.
Simply put, it’s aromatherapy combined with the “internet of things.”
“Olfaction is a powerful sense directly connected to our mood and mind,” Pium chief executive Ryan Kihm explained to Dezeen. “We developed Pium to make olfaction a fourth dimension of the user experience along with vision, audio and haptic.
“The internet of things is the best technology for understanding user behaviour and their context to match scents automatically.”
Inside Pium’s cylinder, three capsules each containing natural essential oils are loaded into the device at one time.
The oils could be, based on the company’s suggestions, a rosemary blend for mornings, a peppermint blend for afternoons, a honey and cherry blossom formula for romantic evenings or a lavender blend for bedtimes.
Pium also automates the intensity of the fragrance and there’s an on-off mode to detect whenever a person leaves or re-enters a room.