Brian Goeltzenleuchter: Olfactory Art, Smell Research & the Power of Air as an Artistic Medium

Join Smell Expert Sofia Ehrich as she interviews Brian Goeltzenleuchter, interdisciplinary artist. In this interview, they discuss how Brian utilizes scent to influence the experience of art and his future innovations. Brian Goeltzenleuchter is an interdisciplinary artist working at the intersection of olfactory art, social engagement, and image making. Goeltzenleuchter is widely recognized as a leading figure in the field of olfactory art. His art and writing treat air as an artistic medium and breathing as a vehicle for aesthetic and critical contemplation. His socially engaged projects investigate themes of identity, ecology, and the boundaries between humans, institutions, and the natural world. His practice has been recognized for its contributions to the emerging fields of olfactory art and socially engaged art, and it has been discussed within art criticism, philosophy, disability studies, and environmental studies. He is the Darlene Shiley Honors Faculty Fellow in the Weber Honors College, and Research Fellow at the Institute for Public and Urban Affairs, San Diego State University.

Join Smell Expert Sofia Ehrich as she interviews Leslie Kay, professor of Psychology and Neuroscience at the University of Chicago and member and former director of the University’s Institute for Mind and Biology. In this interview, they discuss Leslie's research in olfaction primarily with rats and how it has evolved over her career.Leslie Kay is a professor of Psychology and Neuroscience at the University of Chicago and a member and former director of the University’s Institute for Mind and Biology. Her research addresses the roles that personal history, present context, breath, and chemistry play in shaping dynamic responses in brains and behavior centered around the sense of smell. Her laboratory focuses on brain dynamics through neural oscillations that engage olfaction, taste, memory and respiratory systems. New work from her laboratory also examines sex differences in olfactory physiology and behavior. While she primarily uses rats as a model system, she is now collaborating with colleagues to address neural questions in human olfaction and cognitive health. Dr. Kay has served on numerous advisory boards for the NIH, NSF and AChemS. She comes to the sense of smell with a background in Philosophy and Mathematics from St. John’s College (Santa Fe, NM) and a PhD in Biophysics from UC Berkeley. She is a fierce advocate for liberal education and reading real books. At the University of Chicago, she also serves as Deputy Dean for Research in the Social Sciences. She is working on a popular book on smell under contract with Basic Books and Penguin UK (expected publication late 2027).

Join Sight and Emerging Tech Expert Samantha Wolfe as she interviews Marianna Obrist, Professor of Multisensory Interfaces at University College London. In this interview, they discuss the intersection of the five senses and how this impacts Marianna's ventures.Marianna Obrist is Professor of Multisensory Interfaces at University College London (UCL), where she pioneers research on touch, taste, and smell in human-computer interaction (HCI), with applications in virtual reality, healthcare, and wellbeing. Some of her recent projects include the EPSRC/NIHR Smell Care initiative on digital smell training, the EU FET Touchless.AI project on social interaction through contactless touch, and the UKRI Textile Circularity Centre on immersive textile experiences. Marianna is also co-founder and Chief Scientific Officer of Hynt Labs Limited, a spin-out developing digital scent technologies for personalised sleep solutions. She has authored over 100 publications in leading journals and conferences and co-wrote Multisensory Experiences: Where the Senses Meet Technology (Oxford University Press).

Join Hearing Expert Tyler Heaton as he interviews Miles Spencer. In this interview, they discuss Miles' long history of entrepreneurship and his current venture integrating AI with historical sound archives. Miles Spencer is a curious Pittsburgh native who has asked a lot of questions—and followed them a long way from home. For more than 30 years, he has mentored tech founders, discovering along the way that guiding ambitious entrepreneurs isn’t all that different from raising his own kids, whom he has been parenting for 11 years.His career spans the creation of more than 1,100 jobs through founding, financing, building, and exiting three digital media companies. Before that, he served as a Venture Principal at Capital Express (register.com), hosted MoneyHunt on PBS before the era of Shark Tank, and once led over 1,500 people across 14 miles of open sea by kayak. He also trekked 1,100 miles through the deserts of Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and Syria—an expedition chronicled in A Line in the Sand, which went on to become an Amazon bestseller in the Middle East.Following a pandemic-era reset, Miles is now actively investing and directly managing teams across digital media, entertainment, and consumer products. Outside of work, he can often be found painting watercolors with his daughter or playing rugby with his son.And, as his friends often note, his distinctive brand of English sometimes requires translation—but it’s all part of the adventure.

Join Sight and  Emerging Tech Expert Samantha Wolfe as she interviews Dr. Andy Hines, Associate Professor and Program Coordinator for the University of Houston’s Graduate Program. In this interview, they discuss the past, present, and future of innovation and how it connects to higher education. Dr. Andy Hines is Associate Professor and Program Coordinator for the University of Houston’s Graduate Program in Foresight and is also speaking, workshopping, and consulting through his firm Hinesight. His 30+ years of professional futurist experience includes a decade’s experience working inside first the Kellogg Company and later Dow Chemical, and consulting work with Coates & Jarratt,Inc. and Social Technologies/Innovaro. His most recent book (just released) is Imagining After Capitalism. Other books are The Knowledge Base of Futures Studies 2020, Thinking about the Future (2nd edition), Teaching about the Future, ConsumerShift: How Changing Values Are Reshaping the Consumer Landscape, 2025: Science and Technology Reshapes US and Global Society. His dissertation was “The Role of an Organizational Futurist in Integrating Foresight into Organizations.” He was Founding Chair of the Association of Professional Futurists.

Join Sight and  Emerging Tech Expert Samantha Wolfe as she interviews Sohail Inayatullah, UNESCO Chair in Futures Studies. In this interview, they discuss how to predict the future, Sohail's classes in future studies, and how they connect to Samantha's teachings at NYU. Sohail Inayatullah, a political scientist and futurist, is the UNESCO Chair in Futures Studies at the Sejahtera Centre for Sustainability and Humanity. Malaysia. He is also Professor at Tamkang University, Tamsui and Associate, Melbourne Business School, the University of Melbourne. Previously, he was adjunct professor at the Centre for Policing, Counter-Terrorism and Intelligence at Macquarie University, Sydney. He is listed in the top two percent of the world's scientists as measured by the highest impact of citations.  

Join Smell Expert Sofia Ehrich as she interviews Nezka Pfeifer, Museum Curator at the Stephen and Peter Sachs Museum. In this interview, they discuss Nezka's research in olfaction to support her exhibits, her work in curation and the community she has found in the Smell field.  Nezka Pfeifer is an interdisciplinary museum curator who develops botanically-themed exhibitions at the Stephen and Peter Sachs Museum at the Missouri Botanical Garden in St. Louis, a world-renowned research and horticultural organization. She focuses on projects where botany, culture, and art are intertwined through exhibition narratives and multicultural experiences.

Join Smell Expert Sofia Ehrich as she interviews Liam R. Findlay, Themed Attraction and Historical Scenting Consultant at AromaPrime. In this interview, they discuss Liam's research in smell, his work with amusement park scent curation and the impact of historical scent preservation.  Liam R. Findlay is a Themed Attraction and Historical Scenting Consultant for AromaPrime, where he also manages the company and its factory. His role involves guiding theme parks, museums and other attractions through the processes of using immersive scents. These scents might be specially created, perhaps based on careful research, or selected from AromaPrime's collection, with the purposes of telling stories, evoking emotions, influencing behaviour or educating. In his spare time, Liam researches the uses of scents at visitor attractions throughout history, he makes YouTube videos on the topic, and he has contributed to the academic Odeuropa project. Liam's current focus is a handbook for attractions hoping to use scent.

Join Smell Expert Sofia Ehrich as she interviews Nils Lommerin. In this interview, they discuss how Nils got involved in the food industry and his current endeavors as an entrepreneur in the business. Nils Lommerin was president and CEO of Del Monte Foods. During his tenure growth in EBITDA increased more than $46 million in three years.Nils has also worked at Texas Pacific Group, Oxford Health Plans, PepsiCo, Post Cereals, and in consulting roles at Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Texas Pacific Group and KKR.Nils earned a Master of Science degree from Carnegie Mellon University and a Bachelor of Arts degree from East Stroudsburg University. 

Join Touch Expert Yulia Sion as she interviews Craig Shultz and Joe Mullenbach. In this interview, they discuss haptics research and the future of touch technologies. Craig is an Assistant Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Illinois College of Engineering and co-founder of Fluid Reality. He specializes in interactive embedded systems and haptic actuation. His work has won 6 best paper awards and nominations at premiere ACM and IEEE venues and has been featured in venues such as NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt, TechCrunch, and Engadget.Before UIUC and Fluid Reality, Craig finished his post-doc at the Future Interfaces Group at the Human-Computer Interaction Institute, and was the VP of Research and Development at Tanvas, where he developed novel electroadhesive touchscreens based on his work in surface haptics at Northwestern University's Center for Robotics and Biosystems.Joe Mullenbach has spent his career focused on the physical interface between human and machine. A researcher and technologist in the field of haptics, Joe is co-founder and CEO of Fluid Reality, a technology startup producing the first practical high resolution tactile displays to let humans feel what robots feel in teleoperation. Fluid Reality technology imprints small bubbles into the skin, providing instant understanding of contact location, edges, orientation, and pressure. This work has been honored with numerous awards including as a Fast Company Innovation by Design Honoree 2024.  Joe was an early employee at haptic touchscreen startup Tanvas, and holds a PhD in Mechanical Engineering from Northwestern University.