The Anemoia Device is a scent-memory machine that distills analogue photographs into bespoke fragrances.
Guided by a generative AI models and a custom olfactory formulation system, each image is transformed into a unique olfactory composition –– creating a multisensory memory that generates anemoia: the feeling of nostalgia for a moment you never lived.
Published in NeurIPS 2025
Can you feel nostalgia for a past you never lived? What stories might AI be able to tell you about that past, and more uniquely, what might that story smell like?
The Anemoia Device is a tangible AI system for the co-creation of synthetic memories through scent. Through a multi-modal pipeline, it uses a tangible, dial-based interface to guide an LLM in performing a novel cross-modal, semantic-to-olfactory translation.
To experience the work, users insert an analogue photograph into the machine. A brief narrative is generated, which the visitor can shape using three tactile dials controlling perspective, time, and mood. These guide the framing of a story, immerse the visitor, and determine the character of the scent that will emerge.
Through a combination of language models, a curated scent library, and an olfactory knowledge base of narrative-scent pairings, an algorithm then produces a semantically aligned fragrance formula composed of up to four inputs. A custom olfactory display mixes the scent in real-time and dispenses it. This sensory loop from photograph, to narrative, to fragrance induces a form of embodied remembering untethered from lived experience: a feeling of anemoia.