Sensehacking, Charles Spence
Sensehacking, Charles Spence
List: $14.62 | Sale: $10.23
Club: $7.31

Sensehacking
How to Use the Power of Your Senses for Happier, Healthier Living

Author: Charles Spence

Narrator: Sam Woolf

Unabridged: 9 hr 6 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Penguin

Published: 01/14/2021

Synopsis

Brought to you by Penguin.

The world expert in multisensory perception on the remarkable ways we can use our senses to lead happier, healthier, richer lives

How can the furniture in your home affect your well-being? What colour clothing will help you play sport better? And what simple trick will calm you after a tense day at work? In this revelatory book, pioneering and entertaining Oxford professor Charles Spence shows how our senses change how we think and feel, and how by 'hacking' them we can reduce stress, become more productive and be happier.

We like to think of ourselves as rational beings, and yet it's the scent of expensive face cream that removes wrinkles (temporarily) and the noise of the crowd really does affect the referee's decision. Sensehacking explores how the senses are stimulated in nature, at home, in the workplace and at play. Using cutting-edge science, Spence shows how the senses interact and affect our minds and bodies.

© Charles Spence 2021 (P) Penguin Audio 2021

Reviews

Goodreads review by Jin on July 03, 2022

Sensehacking by Charles Spence is a scientific exploration on our senses, on how to understand them, "hack" them and make the most use of them. I must say it was a fun and entertaining read, but more in a "fun facts you'd find in a magazine" kind of way than in a scientific, deeply researched kind of......more

Goodreads review by Alicearisu on February 13, 2021

While the book itself provides plenty of great insight into research and studies surrounding how our environment affects our senses and perception of the world, I felt it did little to provide practical advice on how the everyday person could "use the power of their senses for happier, healthier liv......more

Goodreads review by Harry on November 13, 2024

Professor Charles Spence is the world expert in multisensory perception. Crossmodal Research Laboratory at Oxford University. He has consulted for Unilever, PepsiCo and Nestlé. many of those losing vision later in life can still picture their loved ones when hearing their voices. This can help to sof......more

Goodreads review by Gabriella on September 24, 2025

3.5 Informative and interesting enough without getting too deep. Definitely something in there for everyone to take away. I just don't know that I felt it was enough of a "Hack" of the senses. I think I wanted more practical uses, maybe a bit of a "how to" element eg. using the same perfume when rev......more

Goodreads review by Reader on April 10, 2025

This is a very interesting and easily digestible review of the science behind how our senses and our behaviour and psychology are linked. Spence does a good job of looking at various experiments, and identifying their flaws. However, it has its limitations. Many of the investigations discussed used s......more

Quotes

Spence does for the senses what Marie Kondo does for homes

Talks total sense, lots of fun facts, right up there with the best of the best

An extraordinary compendium of everything you need to know about how to cope with the hidden sensory overload of modern life, engagingly told

In Sensehacking, Charles Spence offers a whole new twist on what it means to 'make sense' of the world around us. Drawing on his renowned expertise in the field of crossmodal science, Professor Spence shares a wealth of insights and practical tips that will help you improve your social, cognitive and emotional well-being through sensory stimulation and management

Charles Spence draws on his wealth of experience to provide insights into how our senses are interwoven in every aspect of our lives. Spence shows how sensehacking - which he defines as 'using the power of the senses, and sensory stimulation, to help improve our social, cognitive and emotional well-being' - is all around us. In addition to practical suggestions for enriching our own lives, Sensehacking provides unsettling insights into how commercial interests are manipulating our perceptions and behaviour. This book will shed light on much that goes unnoticed, and is especially timely in these pandemic times.

Truly accessible, entertaining and informative. On every page there are ideas to set you thinking and widen your horizons

Wonderfully curious and thought-provoking . . . brilliant

Popular science at its best

A fascinating read. Given how pervasive technology has become, the way we relate to our senses could be the most crucial element in creating environments that are conducive to emotional and cognitive well-being. The science shows how we should evolve from an audiovisual dominated world, to one that caters mindfully to all our senses

Charles Spence is the paragon of the transdisciplinary scholar, a Renaissance man for the digital age. From his base at the Crossmodal Research Lab at Oxford, Professor Spence moves comfortably beyond the confines of experimental psychology and across the disciplines of the humanities, social sciences, design art and industry, while also crossing or merging the senses. Sensehacking is a tour de force of the sensory studies literature, a synthesis without equal. This book contains lots of helpful tips about how to use your senses to lead a healthier, happier life (and insights into how designers and marketers are only too happy to arrange your senses for you in the interests of moving merchandise), but it above all concerns "getting the sensory balance right." Rebalancing the senses and diverse sensations relative to each other is vital to our cognitive, emotional and social well-being, so do get hacking by reading this book from the finest and most innovative multisensory (and intersensory) mind of our times

Add to Cart
Add to Wish List