Could plants and nature sounds make you happier at work? What kind of scent should you wear on your first date? Can a simple hug make grandma and grandpa healthier? Charles Spence, sensory science and experiential psychology expert, tells us how our senses alter how we feel and think, in his groundbreaking book, Sensehacking. He describes how hacking our senses and stimulating them in nature, at home, at work, and at play makes our lives richer. 

Greg and Charles talk about how the impact of our senses affect our minds and bodies, thoughts and feelings.

In your opinion, do you think sensory therapy will be an occupation where we will be able to engineer a sensory environment that is optimized?

[00:17:28] That is perceptual engineering to optimize stimulation. Perhaps matching it to the kinds of environments that we have evolved in. And that might involve bringing in greenery, water, the sounds of the birds and the animals. This was one of the amazing things that popped out of the book. Researchers have studied indoor temperatures— homes in North America, from Alaska to Texas. From the warmest to the coldest states, they find that everyone seems to set their central heating and air conditioning at 23 degrees centigrade. And, at a humidity level, that, if you compare that to the climate in every region on earth—it turns out it provides the closest match for the Ethiopian Highlands where we evolved.

How older people in care homes are experiencing sensory underload because of Covid-19

[00:25:12] On the one hand, now there's an increase in touch hunger because people can't touch anymore. Care home residents in the UK said they could occasionally see their relatives through the glass. And they can speak to them through the Intercom, but they're not allowed to touch in person for fear of transmitting the disease. And these are heartbreaking stories of these elderly individuals saying, 'All I want to do is just give my family a hug.' What clearer message could you have about the benefits of touching? The increasing hunger that we're faced with.

Thoughts about hospitals in integrating and optimizing the sensory experience for patients

[00:39:38] So, the health care provision was a realization that needs to go beyond just the machines or, what they can do, the doctors and surgeons. Actually think about, delivering, designing environments that are conducive to recovery, to the reduction of stress. That can be everything from the scent. I mean, just think about, when you go to the dentist, and you get the smell of eugenol or the cloves or the smell of filling. For most of us, that can make us pretty tense. That's not an intrinsic stressful smell. It's just when we associate that smell with what's going to happen, the pain and the drilling. I think it's probably the same thing for hospitals, that scent maybe makes them feel stressed.

00:01:57: How and when Charles wrote the book

00:04:50: How Charles convinced Oxford’s Psychology department to allow him to take on a generalist approach rather than to focus on a specialization

00:07:08: Sensory congruence and how senses work together

00:10:09: Is there a divergent point between sense hacking for good and sense hacking for profit

00:13:07: Sensory overload, underload and its use in therapy

00:15:30: Why older people are suffering sensory underload during COVID-19

00:17:28: Engineering environment to optimize the sensory experience

00:19:35: Biophilic designs and trend on British offices

00:20:20: Evolutionary psychology

00:22:32: Sensory congruence in biophilic design

00:24:10: COVID-19’s effect on the variety of environments we’re exposed to and our relationships, and interactions

00:26:50: How Charles used the book in designing his home

00:30:26: Open office design, workplace setup and its effects on employee performance

00:31:22: How offices and employees will be like after COVID-19 restrictions are lifted

00:34:42: Do architects need to relearn integrating sensory experience in their designs

00:43:00: Rise of online dating and the radical impact of visuals on other senses related to building relationships 

00:45:00: The things we lost from the lack of sensory stimulation during COVID-19

Guest Profile

• Charles Spence Profile at the University of Oxford’s Experimental Psychology Department
• Charles Spence Academic Profile
• Charles Spence on LinkedIn

His Work

• Charles Spence on Google Scholar
• Sensehacking: How to Use the Power of Your Senses for Happier, Healthier Living
• Crossmodal Attention Applied: Lessons for and from Driving (Elements in Perception)
• Gastrophysics: The New Science of Eating
• The Perfect Meal: The Multisensory Science of Food and Dining
• In touch with the future: The sense of touch from cognitive neuroscience to virtual reality