How olfactra works
olfactra is a sensory-training tool built on real aroma chemicals. Here is how to run your first session: start a level, scan a bottle, answer, and see what you missed.
What it is
Every bottle in a kit carries a QR sticker. You scan it to start a question, smell the bottle, and pick what it is. The chemical stays hidden until you answer. Then you see what it was and what it is mistaken for, and anything you miss comes back more often.
Your first session, step by step
- Sign in
On the welcome screen, tap Sign in. olfactra sends a magic link to your Slack, so there is no password to set.
- Open Learn
You land on the Kits screen. In the top navigation, tap Learn to open the Sensory mastery ladder.
- Start a level
Tap Start on L1, or any level that is not locked. A locked level tells you which level to clear first, and levels marked coming soon are not built yet.
- Pick a kit
On the Practise screen, choose a kit from the dropdown and set how many bottles to try. The level sets the question type for you. Tap Start.
- Scan a bottle
Tap Open camera & scan and point your phone at a bottle's QR sticker. The question loads with the chemical hidden.
- Answer
Smell the bottle, tap the option you think is right, then tap Submit answer. Some modes ask you to type the name or pick from a dropdown instead.
- Read the reveal
You see whether you were right, what the chemical was, and its close relatives. Tap Next bottle and scan the next one.
- Finish or stop
Keep going until the run ends. To stop early, tap End at the top right. On the results screen, tap Another round to go again.
You can also point your camera at any QR sticker to jump straight into a question on that kit, without opening a menu.
The question types
These are the kinds of question olfactra asks. Each level uses the type that fits its skill, so you meet them as you climb. The harder ones remove the hints.
The ladder: L1 to L12
Tap Learn in the navigation to see the whole ladder. Each level stays locked until you clear the one before it. All twelve levels are open, from the first detection check through sustained recall to comparative volatility judgment.
Detect
Can you tell the smell is there at all? A short check to start.
Odor families
Sort what you smell into its broad family.
Name the chemical
Put a precise name to single, clean materials.
Cross-family ID
Name chemicals across a kit that mixes several families.
Descriptor fluency
Match smells to the words pros use, and the words back to the smells.
Confusion pairs
Tell apart materials that smell almost the same, like Citral and Citronellal.
Note structure
Place each material by note role — top, heart, or base — the closest read on intensity the bench supports.
Open identification
Name the chemical from the full catalog with no options to choose from.
Chemical classes
Sort each material into its chemistry class, such as aldehyde, ester, lactone, or pyrazine.
Panelist mastery
Sustained recall across the whole catalog, reviewed on a spaced schedule.
Odd one out
Compare three bottles and pick the one whose family does not match the other two.
Intensity & volatility
Order three bottles — a top, a heart, and a base note — from most to least volatile.
How you clear a level
You do not clear a level on one good round. olfactra tracks your accuracy across your recent answers, and a level counts as passed only once you hold a high hit-rate over a real run of questions. Clear it and the next level unlocks.
It schedules with spaced repetition underneath. Chemicals you get wrong come back sooner, and ones you know well come back less often, so your time keeps going to what you have not learned yet.
Sharper smelling: field notes
- Sniff in short bursts. Two or three quick inhales work better than one long pull, because your sense of smell tires quickly.
- Reset between bottles. Smell your own sleeve or some coffee to clear your nose when the notes start to blur.
- Say it out loud. Naming what you smell before you choose forces the vocabulary to form.
- Trust your first impression. It is usually right, and second-guessing tends to send your nose in circles.
- Drill your confusions on purpose. When two materials keep tripping you up, practice them side by side until the difference is clear.