Master
English

An exploratory study on the influence of olfactory sillage on attention in a virtual reality environment

Master program titleMaitrise universitaire en psychologie
Defense date2025-08-25
Abstract

Odors can capture attention in everyday life — for example, when the trail of a perfume momentarily distracts us. This study investigated whether virtual reality (VR) can be used to examine attentional shifts related to olfactory stimuli. Participants were immersed in a virtual park and performed a reading task. While reading, an avatar walked past, and a pleasant odor was delivered via an olfactometer. Each participant experienced six olfactory conditions (five scents and one control), presented in randomized order. Eye movements were recorded using an eye tracker integrated into the VR headset and analyzed across three time intervals: before, during, and after the avatar’s passage. General observations of eye movements revealed greater variability in vertical (Y-axis) eye movements compared to horizontal (X-axis) and depth (Z-axis) movements, indicating that vertical gaze shifts were most pronounced. Results from the repeated-measures Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) indicated that, although no main effect of odor was found, there was a significant main effect of time period, suggesting that gaze behavior varied according to the avatar’s passage. These results highlight the relevance of VR as a tool for studying attention and olfactory influences.

Citation (ISO format)
NGUYEN, Thi Thao Trang. An exploratory study on the influence of olfactory sillage on attention in a virtual reality environment. Master, 2025.
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Master thesis
accessLevelRestricted
Identifiers
  • PID : unige:188047
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Creation05/09/2025 14:11:02
First validation02/10/2025 15:00:04
Update02/10/2025 15:00:04
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