L’Oréal Luxe partners with DATALAND to launch scented AI Museum
The museum and L’Oréal Luxe aim to redefine multisensory exhibition-making by fusing sight, sound, scent, touch, and taste into a continuous, immersive dialogue that deepens emotional and mnemonic responses to AI-generated work.
USA – DATALAND, the world’s first omni-sensory Museum of AI Arts co-founded by Refik Anadol and Efsun Erkılıç, has opened in Los Angeles across five galleries totalling 25,000 square feet.
In addition, the museum features an unprecedented 1.5 billion pixels; its debut exhibition, Machine Dreams: Rainforest, pairs Anadol’s data-driven visual environments with an integrated olfactory program.
For this launch, L’Oréal Luxe becomes DATALAND’s exclusive founding olfactory partner, creating twelve distinct avant-garde scent imprints that translate the museum’s digital narratives into living fragrances.
Drawing on Refik Anadol Studio’s Large Nature Model and L’Oréal Fragrance Métier’s proprietary scent expertise, the teams developed aromas such as Scent of Data, a blend of clean musks and aldehydes designed to evoke algorithmic rhythm and Scent of Rain, a hyper-real petrichor accord with earthy patchouli facets that recreates the sensation of rain on soil.
These compositions are released through smart diffusers that respond in real time to the artworks and to each visitor’s presence, making scent an active, responsive layer of the experience rather than a static accompaniment.
Karine Lebret, Fragrance Métier International Director, L’Oréal Groupe, stated, “Fragrance is the ultimate language of emotion, a direct bridge to the soul that transcends reason.”
“Within DATALAND, we unveil the technical precision of our Métier through ‘immersive scents’ to leave a powerful, indelible emotional imprint.”
The partnership exemplifies L’Oréal Luxe’s “Culture de l’Écart,” marrying cutting-edge technology with deep emotional expression to push fragrance beyond the bottle into a cultural institution.
In a similar move, Guangzhou Xuelei Cosmetics Co. recently unveiled the Xuelei Fragrance Museum in Guangzhou, positioning it as the world’s largest fragrance museum and a new cultural landmark for the scent industry.
The museum spans more than 7,000 square metres and is designed to celebrate traditional Chinese fragrance heritage while also reflecting modern innovation and international collaboration.
Xuelei says the project is intended to do more than display fragrance history; it is meant to serve as an immersive, multi-sensory destination that promotes fragrance education, cross-cultural exchange, and technological advancement.
The museum is also framed as a platform for academic dialogue, talent development, and research and development collaboration, placing it at the intersection of academia, industry, and creative experimentation.
Sign up to receive our email newsletters with the latest news updates and insights from Africa and the World HERE.
