Four Seasons Resort Oahu at Ko Olina

In November 2019, Sensync’s The Vessel was installed at the Naupaka Spa & Wellness Centre, Four Seasons Resort Oahu at Ko Olina. The pod comes from a company founded by the neuroscientist Adam Gazzaley, and is billed as a “deep brain massage” — a way to rest a tired head.

Guests pick a journey of twenty to eighty minutes: Ocean Cove, Zen Garden, Crystal Cave, Floating Clouds. Time enough to take a mind that has been chasing something all day out into open country.

Six senses moving at once

The Vessel works stereoscopic visuals, spatial audio, vibration, breeze, temperature and scent together. Let one of them fall out of step and the machinery shows.

Scent is Aroma Shooter 2 — one unit per pod, set close to the reclining guest’s face.

The closer it is, the faster it must clear

Releasing scent right beside someone’s face means that if it stays, they go on breathing it. When the journey moves from forest to ocean and the forest is still in the air, only the picture has travelled.

The pod runs several times a day. Nothing is sprayed, so no fragrance works its way into the cushions or the headset, and when the guest sits up, the scent settles with them.

In a room built to rest a tired mind, it matters that the scent does not linger either.