Study on Odor Environment Comfort Based on Electroencephalogram (EEG)

Odor, as a component of the indoor environment, has a significant impact on occupant comfort. While pleasant odors have been studied extensively, less attention has been paid to unpleasant odors. At present, electroencephalography (EEG) testing has been found to reflect human comfort levels in different acoustic, lighting, and thermal environments. However, few studies have established a connection between odor‐induced environmental comfort and brain activity. Therefore, this study investigated odor comfort vote (OCV) and examined the impact of odor stimuli on EEG activity. Two odors with differing pleasantness were studied: sweet orange and white vinegar. The results show that the global mean frequency F g in the EEG is indicative of the comfort level associated with an odor environment. Specifically, F g decreases under sweet orange odor, corresponding to a state of comfort, whereas it increases under white vinegar odor, corresponding to a state of discomfort. Additionally, the brain bands’ response to the two odors differs significantly, with sweet orange increasing activity in the α ‐, β ‐, and γ ‐bands, while white vinegar leads to a rise in the θ ‐band. The odors of sweet orange and white vinegar have a significant impact on the F g of the P7 channel, with variation amplitudes of −27.13% and 26.94%, respectively. Therefore, the odor comfort can be judged by tracking the F g changes of P7, which can reduce the workload of subsequent related studies. The findings of this study indicate that EEG can serve as an objective method for evaluating odor‐induced environmental comfort and provide valuable insights for creating more comfortable indoor spaces.