The
importance of experience in knowledge transfer
“Tell me and I forget. teach me and I may remember. Involve me and I learn” – Benjamin Franklin
We live in a time in which we are continuously exposed to all kinds of stimuli. Unlike a few decades ago, today much more is demanded of our brains. This is based on a new lifestyle fed by all the possibilities of digital technology. As a result, our requirements are higher; we are more selective in our information and entertainment choices, and because we are easily distracted, that information must be tailored to us as closely as possible.
Back to the well-known quote from Benjamin Franklin above. Franklin lived in the 18th century, a time when no one could have imagined how the information society would have evolved in the 21st century. The term 'involve', meaning actually being involved in something, now seems more difficult than ever. Because of all the incentives there is currently an abundance of involvement. However, this involvement is very short-lived and therefore ineffective. How can we achieve genuine involvement in this volatile society? How do you capture attention in a world where thousands of stimuli compete for attention?
The solution lies in sensory experience. Fragrance is essential here. Imagine: You are on a train. The sun is shining, the meadows are racing past you outside and the cows are grazing in the meadow. You only have eyes for your phone, however. In between you scroll through your Facebook or Instagram. But then you suddenly smell a farm smell. You did not expect the typical combination of grass and manure. Your attention is immediately triggered and you are back at your aunt's farm where you loved to play as a child. You look up, see the green meadows and smile. What a beautiful time!
Exactly this is genuine involvement. Experiencing your surroundings with sincere attention and all your senses. We seem to have almost forgotten the importance of this, but it is essential to be able to realize successful knowledge transfer. Especially in educational situations, multi-sensory total experience, in which all sensory stimuli are coherently attuned to each other, therefore offers many opportunities.
More and more educational institutions are realizing this. For example, museums and knowledge centers are increasingly working with total 'worlds' in which scent is an essential part. In the Drents Museum, for example, you can recognize the smell of burnt wood in the Goudleerkamer, and the smell of vegetable soup in the kitchen area. In Madurodam, the scent of peat, cloves and ocean is spread in their various experience areas. Scent is also a good addition to educational pillars to make the information more expressive. For example, in the Apenheul , where children can smell the scent of the gorillas. These projects are a good example of how meaningful involvement can be achieved again by means of sensory total experience. This genuine involvement leads to sustainable visitor loyalty for the long term.
SmartNose and Senta have been happy to supervise the projects above, and are also happy to think along for your organization about how you can add a total experience to your knowledge transfer, from concepting to production to evaluation. This way you touch the heart of your visitor, and you know for sure that your story touches and lasts!