Demonstration

DIS 2018, June 9–13, 2018, Hong Kong

SenseCenser: an Interactive Device forSensing Incense Smoke & Supporting
Memorialization Rituals in Japan
Daisuke Uriu

Sai Taoka

Research Center for Advanced

Faculty of Environment andScience and Technology, The

Information Studies, Keio

University of Tokyo, Japan

University, Japanuriu@star.rcast.u-tokyo.ac.jp

s14494st@sfc.keio.ac.jp

William Odom

Masahiko Inami

School of Interactive Arts andResearch Center for Advanced

Technology, Simon Fraser

Science and Technology, TheUniversity, Canada

University of Tokyo, Japan

wodom@sfu.ca

inami@star.rcast.u-tokyo.ac.jp

Mei-Kei Lai
Design Programme, School ofArts, Macao Polytechnic

Figure 1. A SenseCenser installation showing aphoto of the deceased for memorialization rituals

Institute, Macao
mklai@ipm.edu.moPermission to make digital or hard copies of part or all of this work forpersonal or classroom use is granted without fee provided that copies are
not made or distributed for profit or commercial advantage and that
copies bear this notice and the full citation on the first page. Copyrights
for third-party components of this work must be honored. For all otheruses, contact the Owner/Author.
DIS'18 Companion, June 9–13, 2018, Hong Kong© 2018 Copyright is held by the owner/author(s).
ACM ISBN 978-1-4503-5631-2/18/06.
https://doi.org/10.1145/3197391.3205394

Abstract
SenseCenser is a device that senses the act of placing
incense chips into it and, subsequently, the volume ofincense smoke produced as the chips burn. These
values can be connected to various applications, suchas lighting equipment, sound systems, showing(moving) images, and more specific installations atparticular rituals (e.g., a funeral ceremony). We
designed SenseCenser to investigate the potential roleand place of interactive technologies in supporting forJapanese funeral and memorialization rituals. This
paper introduces its technical architecture and also how
it will be demonstrated at the DIS2018 conference.

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Author Keywords

We are initially developing SenseCeser in the specificcontext of Japan in order for it to be used as a resource
within ritual altars at funerals, gravesites, and more
recent emerging urban sites of memorialization inJapan known as automatic columbaria [1,13].1SenseCenser is specifically inspired by the ritual use ofincense within shoko Japanese Buddhist funeral
ceremonies and practices. This paper describes how it
SenseCenser technically works as a design research
artifact and introduces potential applications and ways
in which it could be used at memorialization rituals.

Memorialization; Techno-Spiritual Practices; Interaction
Design; Research though Design.

ACM Classification Keywords
H.5.m. Information interfaces and presentation (e.g.,HCI): Miscellaneous.
Figure 2. Smoke fromincense chips burnt on theelectric heater inside of theCenser

Introduction
Incense sticks and chips are objects that releasefragrant smoke when burned. In Japan, where we focus
and situate our research, burning incense plays animportant role in ritual practices at Buddhist funeral
ceremonies, which is widely known as shoko [5,1]. At
the funeral, visitors pick up incense chips and throw
them on burned charcoal in the cup placed in front of
the funeral altar [5].

SenseCenser
Design Concept Background and Motivations
In the DIS and HCI communities there has been a
recent emergence of work focused on designing andstudying interactive technologies to support everyday
practices of memorization (e.g., [1,4,11-13]). In ourresearch, we aim to build on and expand this prior workthrough designing and implementing a system that canbe used within Japanese ceremonies of remembranceof departed loved ones. We decided to develop a device
that senses incense smoke and translates this into todigital values that can be used as output to control arange of systems (e.g., lighting, sound, image, andvideo). Its name, SenseCenser, simply brings togethera “censer” (containing incense) used at religious ritualswith the digital functionality to “sense” when a user
places incense chips into the censer and the resulting
volume of smoke produced. In this way, our work alsobuilds on Kaye [2], Katsumoto et al. [6] and, more
recently, Obrist et al.’s [8] calls for the HCI community
to not solely focus on technology-driven olfactoryMore generally, across cultures and spiritual practices
pacts in Catholic liturgy to Chinese ritual practices, theburning of incense is used as being symbolic ofcommunication with and commemoration of the lives ofdeparted loves ones as well as deities. Across cultures,
it is commonly burned at graves, temples, churches,
and at home.

Figure 3. Brass madeenclosure (top: outside,bottom: inside)This paper introduces an interactive system named“SenseCenser” (Figure 1) that uses sensors to detect
incense smoke (Figure 2) and translates it to digitalvalues that can be connected to various applications,such as lighting equipment, sound systems, showing(moving) images, and more specific installations atparticular rituals (e.g., a funeral ceremony). At theDIS2018 conference, we will demonstrate the fully
working and interactive SenseCenser prototype with afew applications as described above.

1

Please see our video figure submitted with this paper for moredetails.

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DIS 2018, June 9–13, 2018, Hong Kong

research, and to more deeply consider how smell bebetter leveraged as rich sensorial and experiential
dimensions of engaging with interactive technologies.
We aim to contribute to this line of work bydemonstrating an interactive system for olfactory
experience that aims to evoke a wider set ofpossibilities open to remembrance and memorialization.

Figure 4. SenseCenser
hardware installation forDIS2018 conference thatcontrols lighting equipment,sound systems, and images

Physical Form and Materials
In our prototyping process, we iteratively produced
forms for embedding sensors with digital functionality
to sense incense smoke and the action of throwing
chips inside. We produced 3D printed models out of
ABS plastic material that represented censer-like forms
and tested them. However, these experiments werelimited due to the lack of material integrity of the ABS
plastic when exposed to heat. After several iterations tofinalize the form and dimensions, we collaborated witha metal spinning craftsman and fabricator to produce
our current 2-part brass prototype (Figure 3).
Hardware Implementation
Inside of SenseCenser’s brass enclosure is a modified
electronic incense-chip heater, a gas sensor, and a lightsensor (see Figure 4.). We modified the heater from aJapanese off-the-shelf unit; once it was working, wescaled the inside part of the brass enclosure for it fit
firmly in place. The wires from the sensors areconnected with an arduino circuit that is connected to adigital dimmer, a relay, and a PC that is wired to aprojector and a sound system. The gas sensor detects
smoke and the flow (rate) of air particulates generated
from incense chip being burned in the brass body. Thelight sensor detects lightness inside the brass
enclosure; thus, it senses finger actions picking incense

chips, throwing them into the hole on the body, and theambient glow generated as the incense is burned.

Applications
Synchronizing with Lighting Equipment
A simple application is of synchronizing SenseCenser
with lighting systems. At sites of religious ritual
remembrance of departed loved ones in Japan, there
are commonly lights, such as candles and electric lightsthat play an important role in shaping the atmosphere.
Incense smoke, also used in these ritual places, issimply integrated in our system. At the demonstration,
the dimmer and the relay are both connected with lightbulbs. The dimmer smoothly changes lightness
according to the value of smoke, while the relay
functions to turn the bulbs on/off due to throwing
incense chips actions.
Synchronizing with Sound Systems
Another example is the synchronization of sound withkey ceremonial practices. Depending on the rate andvolume of smoke, the system shifts a subtle, soothingsound’s tone and it dynamics (i.e., volume). The
throwing action also plays or shifts a particular sound.
SenseCenser can be used as an instrument or ritual
artifact specialized for producing sounds within apersonal or collective memorialization ceremony.
Showing Images
Connecting SenseCenser with a PC wired to a projector,will also be synchronized with images. The photo of thedeceased is placed on the funeral altar not only inJapan but also in many other countries. Similar to thelighting equipment, it smoothly changes an image’stransparency according to the value of smoke, while it317

Demonstration

DIS 2018, June 9–13, 2018, Hong Kongshows images responding to actions of placing incense
chips within SenseCenser.

4.

Wendy Moncur and David Kirk. 2014. An emergent
framework for digital memorials. Proceedings of the2014 DIS ’14, ACM, 965–974.

Integration of lights, sounds, and images
An installation shown in Figure 5 is an integrated
example of installation for funeral altars or columbaria
such as [13]. Depending on smokiness, small pictures
surrounding the main deceased photo are graduallyappear, while its environmental lightness is decreasing.
A audio also plays when the smoke emerges and thesmokiness shifts and effects the sound. This installation
is especially suited to the funeral altar and aims toleverage and extend rituals, interactions, and artifacts
common to the visitors’ memorialization practices.

5.

Kiyoko Morita. 1992. The Book of Incense:
Enjoying the Traditional Art of Japanese Scents.
Kodansha USA Inc.

6.

Yuichiro Katsumoto et al. 2006. InScene: ACommunication Device Which Uses Incenses.
Proceedings of the 2006 ACE ’06. ACM.

7.

William Odom, Daisuke Uriu, David Kirk, RichardBanks, and Ron Wakkary. 2018. Experiences in
Designing Technologies for Honoring Deceased
Loved Ones. Design Issues 34, 1: 54-66.

8.

Marianna Obrist et al. 2016. Touch, taste, & smell
user interfaces: The future of multisensory HCI. In
Proceedings of CHI ‘16, 3285-3292. ACM.

9.

ShareWis Inc. Learn how to shoko (offer incense)
in 90 seconds. Retrieved February 12, 2018 fromhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DaRd9_AVSy8

Conclusion and Future Works
This paper introduced SenseCenser, a device thatdetects incense smoke to produce various applications
such as lighting equipment, sound systems, andshowing (moving) images intended to support
particular rituals (e.g., a funeral ceremony). We we will
demonstrate the fully working and interactive
SenseCenser prototype at DIS2018 conference.

References
1.

Figure 5. An integrated
application for funeral altar(from top to bottom).

Genevieve Bell. (2006). No more SMS from Jesus:
ubicomp, religion, and techno-spiritual practices. In
UbiComp 2006: Ubiquitious Computing. 141-158.

10. Peter Staub, Matthias Geck, Caroline Weckerle.
2011. Incense and ritual plant use in Southwest
China: a case study among the Bai in Shaxi.
Journal of ethnobiology and ethnomedicine 7(1), 43.
11. Daisuke Uriu and Naohito Okude. 2010.
ThanatoFenestra: photographic family altar
supporting a ritual to pray for the deceased.
In Proceedings of DIS ’10 , 422-425. ACM.

2.

Joseph Jofish Kaye. 2004. Making Scents: aromatic
output for HCI. interactions 11, no. 1: 48-61.

12. Daisuke Uriu and William Odom. 2016. Designingfor Domestic Memorialization and Remembrance: AField Study of Fenestra in Japan. In Proceedings ofCHI ’16, 5945-5957.

3.

Alexander Martin. 2017. Modern mourning at
Japan's high-tech cemeteries. Retrieved January 7,
2018 from https://asia.nikkei.com/LifeArts/Life/Modern-mourning-at-Japan-s-high-techcemeteries

13. Daisuke Uriu, William Odom, and Hannah Gould.
2018. Understanding Automatic Conveyor-belt
Columbaria: Emerging Sites of Interactive
Memorialization in Japan. In Proceedings of DIS ’18.
ACM.

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