Human beings interact with the external world through the perception that they get by touching, looking at, listening to, tasting and smelling it. Even if this exploration is usually experienced in the real world with real objects, the use of multisensory interactive approach is also crucial for Virtual and Augmented Reality environments, in order to improve the users’ experiences and the sense of presence.

Marina Carulli and Monica Bordegoni will present the research activities of the Virtual and Physical Prototyping (VPP) Group of the Mechanical Engineering Department of Politecnico di Milano, based on scientific and technological competences gained even through the participation to several research projects in the areas of Virtual/Augmented Reality technologies and applications, Virtual Prototyping of industrial products, multi-sensory interaction, user experience, haptic interfaces and olfactory displays. The VPP group has applied its know-how on all these areas in several domains, i.e. consumer products, automotive, and also in the medical and cultural heritage domains, to design and develop interactive multisensory applications (based on sight, hearing, smell and touch senses) which can be used for improving the users experiences.