Like Proust's madeleine, visitors to the MWC will be able to evoke their memories of Barcelona through smell, which they say is the sense that is best linked to memory. And those who visit the Catalan capital for the first time, discover what it smells like and generate their own memories in a very special way. Without having to leave the pavilions of the great congress, it will be possible to take a tour of the smells of several of the most emblematic corners of the city thanks to AirParfum, an experience developed by the Catalan company Puig and which can be discovered at the stand of the Mobile World Capital Barcelona (MWCapital).
"We have olfactorily evoked six locations in Barcelona," says Gregorio Sola, Puig's senior perfumer. The places chosen have been the Barceloneta beach, with the smell of the sea breeze and the sand; La Rambla, imitating a flower shop on Sant Jordi's day; Park Güell, through the flowers on the dragon staircase; Petritxol street, with its smell of chocolate; the Camp Nou, combining freshly watered grass and the leather of the soccer ball, and the basilica of Santa Maria del Mar, with stone and incense. “Without a doubt, it is an olfactory discovery that accompanies the sense of sight, creating a unique multisensory experience of the city of Barcelona”, describes Sola, who has developed the fragrances on display at the MWC.
Puig's vice president of innovation and new technologies, Camila Tomas, assures that AirParfum, a technology company belonging to Puig, has developed a "pioneering olfactory technology, which allows continuous smell without saturating the sense of smell". In addition, the new system does not clutter the environment either. It works by emitting only the olfactory molecule of the perfume and retaining the alcohol molecule, which is what clutters the sniff. "It is totally disruptive in the perfumery industry, but it has also been used in gastronomic and cultural fields," says Tomas.
"Collaborating in the design of an innovative and exciting sensory experience for visitors to the city has been a gift for Puig's innovation and perfumery teams," remarks the senior management of the company, whose headquarters are located next to where the celebrate the MWC.
In the MWCapital proposal for the congress, after the visitor has created their avatar, a physical device will be linked to the metaverse generating the virtual tour and the scent will be released when passing through the chosen points. In addition, using artificial intelligence, an olfactory profile of the visitor will be created, which will be stored in her digital identity and will suggest a taste in another of the experiences.
