Use brain not nose to choose a perfume

PARIS, France (NBC News) –

French luxury brand Yves Saint Laurent demonstrated what they say is a first-of-its-kind, in-store experience that uses brain-scanning technology to help shoppers choose the perfect perfume based on their emotional response.

The tech was unveiled this week at the Viva Technology Conference an annual technology conference, dedicated to innovation and startups, held in Paris, France.

Visitors to the show were invited to try out the experience at the Yves Saint Laurent Beauté scent-sation, where booking slots were quickly filling up.

First, participants fill out a touch-screen questionnaire, answering questions such as whether they prefer a fragrance close to the smell of a dense forest or of a spice market, and how they want the perfume to make them feel.

An algorithm then decides on six simple ‘accords’, with a multi-sensor, [electroencephalogram] Eeg-based headset tracking their emotional responses to different scent families and analyzing these to make product recommendations.
The experience was created in partnership with U.S.-based bioinformatics company Emotiv, which develops electroencephalography (EEG) technology to advance understanding of the human brain.

Nicolas Hieronimus, CEO of L’oréal, which owns YSL Beauté says it is all about your emotions, “You have a questionnaire and it measures emotions when you smell different fragrance accords and it tells you what makes you happy, stressed, confident. There are different criteria and you see the curves that are being measured at the time where this lady’s smelling right now and the machine is measuring what this particular accord is triggering as emotions for her.”

Hieronimus claims “there is a 96 percent accuracy in terms of fragrance recommendation and consumer satisfaction” and says he believes the technology will ultimately help make consumers’ buying decisions easier.