"yokun,” an olfactory training device jointly developed by the Keio University Global Research Institute (KGRI) and the Graduate School of System Design and Management (SDM) has won five awards in international design competitions.
The device won in both the "Design for Elders" and "Design for Public Awareness" categories of the US-hosted European Product Design Award 2022. It also won the German Design Award 2023 for "Excellent Product Design Household" and the Asia Design Prize 2023 held in South Korea. Finally, it was shortlisted for the London International Creative Competition held in the UK.
The team hopes to advance yokun research and development as a device for sustainably improving one's olfactory senses.