Demo Hour

DEMO HOUR: SenseCenser

SenseCenser is a device for burning incense. It senses when incense chips are placed into it and the volume of incense smoke that is produced as the chips burn. Data captured from the integrated sensors can be connected to various applications, such as lighting equipment, sound systems, displays showing moving images, and more specific installations in particular rituals. We designed SenseCenser to investigate the potential role and place of interactive technologies in supporting Japanese funeral and memorialization rituals, as well as how it could be applied to other incense practices in different cultural contexts and settings.

Uriu, D., Odom, W., Lai, M., Taoka, S., and Inami, M. SenseCenser: An interactive device for sensing incense smoke and supporting memorialization rituals in Japan. Proc. of the 2018 ACM Conference Companion Publication on Designing Interactive Systems. ACM, New York, 2018, 315–318; https://doi.org/10.1145/3197391.3205394

Daisuke Uriu, The University of Tokyo
[email protected]

William Odom, Simon Fraser University
[email protected]

Mei-Kei Lai, Macao Polytechnic Institute
[email protected]

Masahiko Inami, The University of Tokyo
[email protected]

A SenseCenser installation showing a photo of the deceased for a memorialization ritual.