The First Page: Multisensory Experiences

THE FIRST PAGE

Multisensory Experiences:
Where the Senses meet Technology

by Marianna Obrist and Carlos Velasco

17 March 2026

The First Page presents the first page of books that are launched as part of the IAS Book Launch Series. On 24 March 2026, Marianna Obrist and Carlos Velasco will present their book Multisensory Experiences, which takes the reader on a journey from the fundamentals of multisensory experiences to the relationship between the senses and technology and, ultimately, to considerations of what the future of those experiences might look like.

CHAPTER 1
The Exciting World of Multisensory Experiences

Do you remember the first time you touched a pebble, ate a strawberry, smelled a jasmine flower, or experienced the immersive world of virtual reality (VR)? You may not recall these specific first encounters, but it’s likely you remember the sensations of seeing, touching, tasting, and smelling those objects, or at least a general sense of what the experience felt like. Perhaps, if the experience was particularly special (your first time at the beach) or dramatic (a vast thunderstorm at the beach), you may have a stronger recollection or impression of the moment. Those instances define us when it comes to the exploration of our surroundings, the world at large, and influence how we experience future encounters and events. But how do experiences form?

1.1 How Do We Experience the World Around Us?

We perceive the world around us with all of our senses, that is, through what we see, hear, touch, taste, and smell (and more, as we discuss in Chapter 2). The senses, in turn, contribute to form the countless experiences that we have in our lives. Humans are equipped with multiple sensory channels, which, at any given moment, allow us to detect and process different kinds of information to form specific impressions about ourselves, others, and the world around us. Notably, most of our daily life experiences are multisensory in nature, that is, they involve many, …

Multisensory Experiences: Where the Senses meet Technology was published in April 2025 by Oxford University Press.

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MARIANNA OBRIST is Professor of Multisensory Interfaces at the UCL Department of Computer Science. She is the co-founder and Chief Scientific Officer (CSO) of Hynt Labs Limited. Her research investigates the integration of touch, taste, and smell as interaction modalities in Human-Computer Interaction (HCI), with applications spanning VR, automotive, and health/wellbeing.

CARLOS VELASCO is Professor in the Department of Marketing at the BI Norwegian Business School and the co-founder of the Centre for Multisensory Marketing. His work is situated at the intersection between Psychology, Marketing, and Human–Computer Interaction, and focuses on understanding, and capitalising on, our multisensory experiences and their guiding principles.

On 24 March 2026 Marianna Obrist and Carlos Velasco will launch their book Multisensory Experiences: Where the Senses meet Technology at the Institute of Advanced Studies. More information.

Lead Image by Alexander Grey via Unsplash.