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What is the Internet of Senses I Selected

My goal today is to bring you to an incoming reality where the media can stream perfumes, tastes, sensations of touch and much more.

Imagine this scenario, while writing this article I’m drinking a very intense espresso- how cool would it be if now while you are reading this, you could experience my current mood and be immersed into my sensorial reality; being able to smell the roasted coffee beans in the air while also feeling the powerful caffeine rush along with me?

That’s a very small example of what the Internet of Senses (IoS) is all about. Let me show you another case, a more powerful one: imagine something you’ve always dreamed about, but for some reason (like current covid lockdowns) you were unable to experience it…for sure it happened. What if there was an online marketplace that could teleport and embody your “self” into an immersive and interactive experience that was more than just audio and video?

Wouldn’t you call it a dream? We’re almost there…

So wake up! What is the IoS? Generally speaking, the IoS is based on a very simple concept: you will be able to use your five senses while interacting with the ‘internet.’

The topic of senses, it’s so natural in a way, indeed it’s in our DNA. To illustrate this point we just need to observe how babies, as newcomers to the physical world, mostly learn about objects by instinctively putting it in their mouths! And until now, our online existence has not allowed us to practice or experience digital “mouthing.” Why?

The same goes for smell and odors where science has already proven a direct link and trigger to enhance memories.

But still, few people are using it for the IoS.

Here again, I highlight few people or companies, because if you go online and Google it, you’ll basically find one great report from Ericsson along with thousands of copycats with imprecise information.

According to Ericsson’s report, the IoT will be supplanted by the internet of senses by 2030…
Some people will say never!
Some, like me and hopefully like you, will say let’s do it faster!

The fact is, what may be seen as a very limited industry, indeed it’s not, and there’s already an exponential trend that (hopefully) may be more visible soon. Not only visible but also touched, smelled and tasted.

Jokes aside, in order to keep the Internet of Senses vibrant and in the spotlight, I’ll start sharing more articles here at Selected by Sesamers – highlighting relevant projects, concepts, ideas, industry thought leaders and events around the topic of Internet of Senses and Immersive Experiences to help you avoid the FOMO.

So to answer the initial question – do we need to wait until 2030 for the Internet of the Senses? No, we don’t need to wait until 2030. It’s here, and I’m looking forward to sharing more about it in upcoming articles – one sense at a time


In the meantime, here are 2 upcoming events that you may be interested in checking out:

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Solstice Hannan – unsplash

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Events 2 days ago

Last week, I spent three days at Bits and Pretzels in Munich — a startup-focused event with a distinctly Bavarian flavor. Think Oktoberfest meets startup conference, complete with dirndls, lederhosen, and more beer than you might expect. As someone building an AI-powered event platform, I went in with a specific mission: Observe how startups actually market themselves at events. Here’s what I discovered: GoodBytz: The power of good demos What they did: Robotics startup GoodBytz set up a booth where its robots prepared kaiserschmarrn (a traditional German dessert) all day long. Why it worked: Nothing beats seeing a product in action. While other booths had brochures and demos, GoodBytz’s robots were actually cooking. The smell, the movement and the end result stirred together an experience that people will remember and talk about. The lesson: If you have a physical product, show it in action. The old writing adage generalizes well: Show, don’t tell.  Let people see, hear and touch the product. WeRoad: The bathroom hack What they did: Posted “Missing Investor” flyers in bathroom stalls with QR codes pointing to their website. Why it worked: Pure genius. Every startup at the event was looking for investors, but the “Missing Investor” headline, while a bit on the nose, proved irresistible. Plus, bathroom stalls are one of the few places where people have 30 seconds to actually read something. The lesson: Think about where your target audience’s attention will remain undivided. Sometimes, the most effective marketing leverages the most unexpected places. Emqopter: Visual impact matters What they did: Designed a bright orange booth that displayed their drone prominently. Why it worked: In a sea of grey, white, beige and brown, Emqopter’s bright orange booth was impossible to overlook. The drone was real, too, and proved a real conversation starter. The lesson: Your booth is competing with hundreds of others. Make it visually distinctive and ensure your product is the hero. Quests: Community building using the product What they did: Created a busy, branded booth with accessories (toy car, traffic cones, a bulletin board) and used their anti-loneliness app to build communities among founders at the event. Why it worked: Quests used their product to solve a real problem right at the event, and the busy booth design generated energy and curiosity. The lesson: Use your product to solve a problem at the event — if it’s possible, of course. Demonstrate your value in real time. Dyno: Event-themed marketing What they did: Distributed branded electrolyte packs with the tagline “Your hangover ends. Your pension lasts – with Dyno.” Why it worked: Dyno aligned its messaging perfectly with the Oktoberfest theme. Every attendee was thinking about beer and hangovers, so Dyno’s goodies were quite relevant. The tagline was clever, memorable, and directly addressed a pain point most people at the event might have to deal with later. The lesson: Tailor your marketing to the event’s theme and culture. The more you tie your messaging and product to the context, the more memorable you become. So, what did I learn? Event marketing is about more than just showing up and setting up a booth; you have to understand your audience and create experiences that people will remember. Here’s what really struck me: most startups and even big companies don’t know how to leverage events properly. They book the booth, show up and hope for the best; maybe they bring some branded pens and a pop-up banner. Then they’ll go back home and wonder why they spent €5,000 in exchange for 50 business cards that never convert. The startups that stood out at Bits and Pretzels understand something fundamental: event ROI isn’t about booth size or location; it’s about strategy, creativity and planning. None of the startups above improvised on-site, or planned something the night before the event in their hotel rooms. They laid everything out 4-6 weeks before the event. A solid pre-event strategy is what separates successful event marketing from expensive booth rental.  But what matters most for early-stage startups is that you don’t need a massive budget to stand out. WeRoad’s bathroom stall hack probably cost €50 to print the flyers. A standard booth package at Bits and Pretzels would go for €3,000 to €5,500. The ROI difference is staggering when you compare the cost per meaningful conversation. That’s the difference between simply spending money and investing smartly. Building Sesamers has taught me that helping startups find the right events is only half the equation. The other half is helping them understand how to maximize ROI once they’re there. Good props aren’t a marketing expense; they’re opportunities to meet customers, investors and partners, and strike up engaging conversations.

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