Motivation and emotion/Book/2024/Sense hacking

Sense hacking:
How can manipulating sensory experiences enhance happiness?

Multimedia presentation (3 min)

Overview

Scenario: Imagine this... It's the first day of a well deserved holiday...the first thing you hear is the metallic clang of an alarm tone which startles you into a panic. Your eyes open wide and notice the sun bouncing off all of the busy geometric wallpaper around you. Now that you are really awake, you feel how hard the mattress is and how scratchy the sheets are on your skin. Not to mention the horrible chemical smell that is so strong you can taste it. Now imagine a hotel that has considered the design of their rooms to appeal to their customer's senses... You're gently awoken by calming rainforest sounds, in a plush and comfortable bed with silky sheets. The blinds open slowly and fills the room with warm sunlight that shows you all of the greenery around you. There is a hint of eucalyptus in the air from a nearby diffuser and you notice there is complementary herbal tea on your bed side table. Which of these scenarios would you prefer and how might it influence your physical and psychological state?

Welcome to the importance of understanding the environment in which we live and the sensory input we are constantly processing. You may have already unknowingly experienced the benefits of sense hacking by staying in well designed hotels, finding yourself being drawn to nature, lighting a candle or feeling like you have the power to choose your mood based on your song choice.

This chapter will explore what sense hacking is, the opportunities we have to use techniques to improve outcomes, provide practical examples and explore why psychological science and research is so important in this space.

Focus questions: What is sense hacking? How can sense hacking make you happier? What is the evidence base for sense hacking and does it work for everyone? How can the benefits of sense hacking be fostered?

What is sense hacking?

Figure 1. The sensory homunculus visualises how our senses map to our brain structure.

When you first come across the term "sense hacking" you may immediately think of computer hacking, cyber crime or manipulating input for an outcome. While these associations are completely understandable, sense hacking refers to using our senses to influence how we feel. The term has gained popularity following a book of the same title by Charles Spence.

Firstly, when we refer to senses we mean our five basic human senses of sight, smell, touch, taste and sound. Hacking is also being used with the positive connotation of a 'life hack' or changing something for a better outcome. When this chapter refers to sense hacking it covers:

• a range of approaches and techniques (natural and technological) used to optimise sensory stimuli to improve our wellbeing
• manipulating or enhancing our senses
• combining multiple sensory inputs
• increasing awareness of our senses and emotions

To assist with some base knowledge, you may recognise the Sensory homomculus in Figure 1 as the creature that shows us how our body parts are represented in the sensory cortex of our brains. This is a useful resource as it can help you learn more about how our brains collect, organise and process sensory information.

How can sense hacking make you happier?

[Relationship between senses and emotions] There is an interesting relationship between how our senses and emotions interact. Our sensory experiences can have strong effects on how we feel and how we feel can affect how we actually perceive sensory information (Rouby, Fournel, & Bensafi, 2016). This is important as it provides the basis of how and why hacking our senses can make us happier.

[Brief introduction to the senses and sensory input] Likely to be linked out to existing page or credible resource

[Key points communicated as practical examples and written as tips]

Below you'll find some examples to explore and possibly even some tips and tricks to try yourself!

Sight

• A beautiful view - colours can be manipulated and used to change and improve our mood (Elliot, 2015)

Smell

• Aromatherapy - certain essential oils can assist with emotional regulation and overall well-being (Lee & Kim, 2024)

Touch

• Virtual reality and immersive experiences - have been found to increase overall happiness and in some cases reduce pain (Hoffman et. al)

Taste

• Eating your feelings - taste profiles and pleasant food experiences have been found to improve mood and happiness (Johnson & Martinez, 2024)

Sound

• Manipulating audio - certain music has been found to improve mood and boost cognitive performance (Thoma et al., 2013)

What is the evidence base for sense hacking?

This might all sound great so far but perhaps you're more interested in the history of manipulating sensory input and what other theoretical concepts and evidence bases it may relate to.

As discussed in earlier sections, using the definition of X, we can see there is a long history of exploring the relationship between sensory input and our emotions. Similar to all other psychological interventions and techniques, what works for one person may not work for everyone. Individual differences is an important aspect to consider when exploring sense hacking also.

For a detailed overview on how we sense and perceive things in general, see X and to better understand the basis of emotions go here.

Table 1. Summary of relevant theoretical frameworks related to sense hacking

Theory or concept	Summary	Consideration
Signal Detection Theory		How can we detect and understand different sensory inputs?
Sensory Processing Sensitivity		As individuals, how does the way we process sensory information affect how we feel?
Emotion Regulation Theory		How does the environment and our sensory experience impact our ability to regulate our own emotions?
Multisensory Integration		Does engaging multiple senses at once during a single experience enhance outcomes for us?

How can we foster or further explore sense hacking in the future?

• A brief point on the importance of understanding our senses in general as technology continues to disrupt.
• Embracing technology to assist with sense hacking and reconnecting.
• Future studies could look into how to better understand individual differences, provide education, integrate technology etc.
• How can we foster the benefits of sense hacking moving forward.

Test your knowledge!

Sense hacking is an unconscious process which works best if the person is not aware of the sensory input to begin with:

	True
	False

Conclusion

• What is sense hacking (focus question 1)
• Reinforce relationship between sense hacking and emotion (focus question 2) and how it can enhance subjective wellbeing and happiness by X, Y and Z
• Conclude how the benefits can be fostered (focus question 4)
• Call to action (as feature box) - challenge reader to embed one sense hacking technique into their daily routine and journal or capture their happiness levels for a week to come up with their own conclusions around whether it works for them. Then write out some ideas about how it could be explored further in the future (focus question 3)

See also

• Autonomous sensory meridian response and emotion (Book Chapter, 2023)
• Human senses (Wikipedia)

References

Elliot, A. J. (2015). Color and psychological functioning: A review of theoretical and empirical work. Frontiers in Psychology, 6, 568. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2015.00568

Hoffman, H. G., Patterson, D. R., & Carrougher, G. J. (2003). Effectiveness of Virtual Reality-Based Pain Control with Multiple Treatments. The Clinical Journal of Pain, 19(5), 297-303.

Johnson, E. A., & Martinez, A. (2024). The Effects of Gustatory Sensory Manipulation on Mood and Happiness: A Controlled Study. Journal of Food and Emotion, 5(1), 59-75.

Lee, J. Y., & Kim, H. S. (2024). Aromatherapy as a Tool for Emotional Regulation: A Randomized Controlled Trial. International Journal of Aromatherapy and Wellness, 12(2), 112-126.

Rouby, C., Fournel, A., & Bensafi, M. (2016). The role of the senses in emotion. In Emotion measurement (pp. 65–81). Academic Press. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-08-100508-8.00003-5

Thoma, M. V., La Marca, R., & Brönnimann, R. (2013). The Effect of Music on Mood and Cognitive Performance. Journal of Positive Psychology, 8(1), 44-55.

External links

Provide external links to highly relevant resources such as presentations, news articles, and professional sites. Use sentence casing. For example:

• Sensehacking, Charles Spence (Book)
• Professor Charles Spence on Sensehacking (Youtube)
• The science of sensory marketing (Online article)
• How to hack your senses (Opinion article)