The Anemoia Device

Cyrus Clarke

Artwork Description:

Can AI connect us to pasts we never lived through scent? The Anemoia Device is a scent-memory machine that distils archival photographs into bespoke fragrances. Each image is transformed into a scent that evokes anemoia: nostalgia for a time one has never lived. The system begins with a vision-language model that interprets an analogue photograph, an archival object that anchors the experience, and produces an objective semantic caption displayed on the integrated screen. Three rotary dials then lead the creation of a prompt, shaped through constrained inputs: a subject in the scene, a temporal stage, and an affective tone. Together, these constrained controls turn open-ended prompt generation into a guided, legible act of co-authorship. From this prompt, the system generates a short narrative and a corresponding scent recipe, which the device materialises as a blended fragrance. This forms a new memory artefact composed of narrative, tangible and olfactory elements. The work is an inquiry into memory malleability in an age of AI, proposing an alternative to conventional screen-based interaction through an intentional multisensory process that positions the user as an active co-author, rather than a passive consumer. The device positions scent as a primary output of generative computation, making AI felt as atmosphere and presence rather than content to be scrolled. It points towards futures where we design AI systems for the complex, multisensory realities of our embodied humanity, where meaning and memory artefacts can be generated and materialised through scent.

Project Collaborators:

Nomy Yu Melo Chen Yuen Zou