PassSmell: Using Olfactory Media for Authentication

In currently used verification systems, different senses are being used as inputs or outputs, such as touch and sight. In a similar way, olfactory media (sense of smell) could be used to take part in the verification method. In this study, an empirical investigation was conducted to study the impact of olfactory data as a data channel on user performance and Quality of Experience (QoE). The olfactory data were used with words in our verification model (PassSmell). To this end, we developed two different versions of applications, namely enhanced-olfactory and none-olfactory, for which a database of words with/without scents were used. Twenty-eight participants were invited to take part in our experiment, evenly split into a control and experimental group. Time and number of failed/successful attempts were recorded. A significant difference was found, in terms of time taken, between the experimental and the control groups, as determined by independent sample t-test. Similar results were found with respect to average scores and number of successful attempts. Regarding user QoE, having olfactory data with words instead of passwords influenced the users positively, which resulted in their being attracted to using this kind of application in the future.