AromaCue - A scent toolkit to cope with stress using the 4-7-8 breathing method

Abstract

In this paper, we present AromaCue, an initial design for a scent-based toolkit to cope with stressful situations using scent conditioning. The AromaCue toolkit consists of two parts: A breath training device using multiple stimuli and a wearable scent-emitting device (with a stress ball as an activator). Scent can trigger emotional memories. In the initial design, we utilized the properties of various scents as retrieval cues for consciousness breathing. In a comparative experiment, eight participants showed a significant heart rate decrease several minutes after a stressor (the Stroop test) when a scent cue was present, but not without it. One week of user study revealed significant improvement on Depression Anxiety and Stress Scale (DASS-21) scores. Therefore, AromaCue can help users to cope with stress.