Research

My work situates at the intersection between psychology, marketing, and human-computer interaction and focuses on understanding, and capitalizing on, our multisensory experiences and their guiding principles.

In particular, I’m interested in the mechanisms that explain crossmodal correspondences (the associations between features across the senses), how and why crossmodal (in)congruency influences consumers’/users’ perception, judgements, and behaviour, and how crossmodal correspondences relate to other forms of crossmodal associations (e.g., semantic congruency).

I’m also interested in the field of aesthetic science. Here, I’m focusing on questions such as: What sensory features of objects do people prefer and why? How/when does object/feature preference influence motivation? Can preference explain certain crossmodal correspondences?

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Selected publications

NOTE: If you can’t access any of the articles below, please contact me and I’ll be happy to send you a copy.

2022

Barbosa Escobar, F., Velasco, C., Byrne, D. V., & Wang, Q.-J. (in press). Crossmodal associations between visual textures and temperature concepts. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology.

Petit, O., Javornik, A., & Velasco, C. (2022). We eat first with our (digital) eyes: Enhancing mental simulation of eating experiences via visual-enabling technologies. Journal of Retailing, 98, 277-293.

Motoki, K., Saito, T., & Velasco, C. (2022). Spontaneous crossmodal correspondences grounded in contexts and languages. Food Quality and Preference, 100, 104619.

Park, J., Velasco, C., & Spence, C. (2022). ‘Looking sharp’: Amount display typeface influences awareness of spending in mobile payment. Psychology and Marketing, 39, 1170-1189.

Petit, O., Velasco, C., Wang, Q.-J., & Spence, C. (2022). Consumer consciousness in multisensory extended reality. Frontiers in Psychology, 13:851753.

Barbosa Escobar, F., Wang, Q. J., Corredor, A., & Velasco, C. (2022). The taste of visual textures. Food Quality and Preference, 100, 104602.

2021

Velasco, C., Michel, C., & Spence, C. (2021). Gastrophysics: Current approaches and future directions. International Journal of Food Design, 6, 137-152.

Velasco, C., Escobar Barbosa, F., Petit, O., & Wang, Q.-J. (2021). Impossible (food) experiences in extended reality. Frontiers in Computer Science, 3:716846.

Pombo, M., & Velasco, C. (2021). How aesthetic features convey the concept of brand premiumness. Psychology and Marketing, 38, 1475-1497.

Velasco, C., Sunaga, T., Narumi, T., Motoki, K., Spence, C., & Petit, O. (2021). Multisensory consumer-computer interaction. Journal of Business Research, 134, 716-719.

Cornelio, P., Velasco, C., & Obrist, M. (2021). Multisensory integration as per technological advances: A review. Frontiers in Neuroscience, 15:652611.

Barbosa-Escobar, F., Velasco, C., Motoki, K., Byrne, D. V., & Wang, Q.-J. (2021). The temperature of emotions. PLOS ONE, 16:e0252408.

Wang, Q.-J., Barbosa Escobar, F., Alves da Mota, P, & Velasco, C. (2021). Getting started with virtual reality for sensory and consumer Science: Current practices and future perspectives. Food Research International, 145, 110410.

Velasco, C. & Obrist, M. (2021). Multisensory experiences: A primer. Frontiers in Computer Science, 3:614524.

Barbosa Escobar, F. J., Petit, O., & Velasco, C. (2021). Virtual terroir and the premium coffee experience. Frontiers in Psychology, 12:586983

Almiron, P., Barbosa Escobar, F., Pathak, A., Spence, C., & Velasco, C. (2021). Searching for the sound of premium beer. Food Quality and Preference, 88, 104088.

2020

Velasco, C., Nijholt, A., Spence, S., Narumi, T., Motoki, K., Huisman, G., & Obrist, M. (2020). Multisensory approaches to human-food interaction. In Proceedings of the 2020 International Conference on Multimodal Interaction (ICMI ’20). Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA, 878–880.

Motoki, K. & Velasco, C. (2020). Taste-shape correspondences in context. Food Quality and Preference, 88, 104082.

Velasco, C., Pathak, A., Woods, A., Corredor, A., & Elliot, A. J. (2020). The relation between symmetry in food packaging and approach and avoidance words. The Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 73, 654-663.

2019

Obrist, M., Tu, Y., Yao, L., & Velasco, C. (2019). Space food experiences: Designing passenger’s eating experiences for future space travel scenarios. Frontiers in Computer Science, 1:3.

Spence, C., Reinoso-Carvalho, F., Velasco, C., & Wang, J. Q. (2019). Extrinsic auditory contributions to food perception and consumer behaviour: An interdisciplinary review. Multisensory Research, 32, 275-318.

Petit, O., Velasco, C., & Spence, C. (2019). Digital sensory marketing: Integrating new technologies into multisensory online experience. Journal of Interactive Marketing, 45, 42-61.

Pathak, A., Velasco, C., Petit, O., & Calvert, G. (2019). Going to great lengths in pursuit of luxury: How longer brand names can enhance the luxury perception of a brand. Psychology & Marketing, 36, 951-963.

Velasco, C., Adams, C., Petit, O., & Spence, C. (2019). On the localization of tastes and products in 2D space. Food Quality and Preference, 71, 438-446.

2018

Velasco, C., Tu, Y., & Obrist, M. (2018). Towards multisensory storytelling with taste and flavor. In Proceedings of the 3rd International Workshop on Multisensory Approaches to Human-Food Interaction (MHFI’18). ACM, New York, NY, USA, Article 2, 7 pages.

Velasco, C., Karunanayaka, K., & Nijholt, A. (2018). Editorial: Multisensory human-food interaction. Frontiers in Psychology, 9:796.

Velasco, C., Le, T., Beh, E. J., & Marmolejo-Ramos, F. (2018). The shapes associated with the concept of “sweet and sour” foods. Food Quality and Preference, 68, 250-257.

Spence, C. & Velasco, C. (2018). On the multiple effects of packaging colour on consumer behaviour and product experience in the ‘food and beverage’ and ‘home and personal care’ categories. Food Quality and Preference, 68, 226-237.

Turoman, N., Velasco, C., Chen, Y.-C., Huang, P.-C., & Spence, C. (2018). Symmetry and its role in the crossmodal correspondence between shape and taste. Attention, Perception, & Psychophysics, 80, 738-751.

Velasco, C., Obrist, M., Petit, O., & Spence, C. (2018). Multisensory technology for flavor augmentation: A mini review. Frontiers in Psychology, 9:26.

Velasco, C., Hyndman, S., & Spence, C. (2018). The role of typeface curvilinearity on taste expectations and perception. International Journal of Gastronomy and Food Science, 11, 63-74.

2017

Velasco, C., Nijholt, A., Obrist, M., Okajima, K., Spence, C., & Schifferstein, R. (2017). 2nd workshop on multisensory approaches to human-food interaction. In Proceedings of 19th ACM International Conference on Multimodal Interaction (ICMI’17). ACM, New York, NY, USA, 3 pages.

Spence, C., Obrist, M., Velasco, C., & Ranasinghe, N. (2017). Digitizing the chemical senses: Possibilities & pitfalls. International Journal of Human-Computer Studies, 107C, 62-74.

Obrist, M., Gatti, E., Maggioni, E., Vi, C. T., & Velasco, C. (2017). Multisensory experiences in HCI. IEEE MultiMedia, 24, 9-13.

2016

Velasco, C., Michel, C., Youssef, J., Gomez, X., Cheok, A. D., & Spence, C. (2016). Colour-taste correspondences: Design food experiences to meet expectations or surprise. International Journal of Food Design, 1, 83-102.

Velasco, C., Salgado-Montejo, A., Elliot, A. J., Woods, A. T., Alvarado, J., & Spence, C. (2016). The shapes associated with approach/avoidance words. Motivation and Emotion, 40, 689-702.

Jacquot, M., Noel, F., Velasco, C., & Spence, C. (2016). On the colours of odours. Chemosensory Perception, 9, 79-93.

Knöferle, K., Knöferle, P., Velasco, C., & Spence, C. (2016). Multisensory brand search: How the meaning of sounds guides consumer visual attention. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied, 22, 196-210.

Velasco, C., Woods, A. T., Petit, O., Cheok, A. D., & Spence, C. (2016). Crossmodal correspondences between taste and shape, and their implications for product packaging: A review. Food Quality and Preference, 52, 17-26.

Velasco, C., Woods, A. T., Marks, L. E., Cheok, A. D., & Spence, C. (2016). The semantic basis of taste-shape associations. PeerJ, 4:e1644.

2015

Michel, C., Velasco, C., Fraemohs, P., & Spence, C. (2015). Studying the impact of plating on ratings of the food served in a naturalistic dining context. Appetite, 90, 45-50.

Spence, C., Wan, X., Woods, A., Velasco, C., Deng, J., Youssef, J., & Deroy, O. (2015). On tasty colours and colourful tastes? Assessing, explaining, and utilizing crossmodal correspondences between colours and basic tastes. Flavour, 4:23.

Velasco, C., Wan, C., Knoeferle, K., Zhou, X., Salgado-Montejo, A., & Spence, C. (2015). Searching for flavor labels in food products: The influence of color-flavor congruence and association strength. Frontiers in Psychology, 6:301.

Velasco, C., Woods, A. T., Deroy, O., & Spence, C. (2015). Hedonic mediation of the crossmodal correspondence between taste and shape. Food Quality and Preference, 41, 151-158.

Velasco, C., Woods, A. T., Hyndman, S., & Spence, C. (2015). The taste of typeface. i-Perception, 6, 1-10.

Woods, A.T., Velasco, C., Levitan, C. A., Wan, X., & Spence, C. (2015). Conducting perception research over the internet: A tutorial review. PeerJ, 3:e1058.

2014

Michel, C., Velasco, C., Gatti, E., & Spence, C. (2014). A taste of Kandinsky: Enhancing expectations and experience through the use of art-inspired food presentation. Flavour, 3:7.

Michel, C., Velasco, C., Salgado-Montejo, A., & Spence, C. (2014). The Butcher’s tongue illusion. Perception, 43, 818-824.

Velasco, C., Balboa, D., Marmolejo-Ramos, F., & Spence, C. (2014). Crossmodal effect of music and odor pleasantness on olfactory quality perception. Frontiers in Psychology, 5:1352.

Velasco, C., Salgado-Montejo, A., Marmolejo-Ramos, F., & Spence, C. (2014). Predictive packaging design: Tasting shapes, typographies, names, and sounds. Food Quality and Preference, 34, 88-95.

Wan, X., Velasco, C., Mu, B., Woods, A., Michel, C., & Spence, C. (2014). Does the shape of the glass influence the crossmodal association between colour and flavour? A cross-cultural study. Flavour, 3:3.

Wan, X., Woods, A. T., van den Bosch, J., McKenzie, K. J., & Velasco, C., & Spence, C. (2014). Cross-cultural differences in crossmodal correspondences between basic tastes and visual features. Frontiers in Psychology, 5:1365.

2013

Maric, Y., Velasco, C., Spence, C., & Jacquot, M. (2013). On the colours of odours: Are the French really so different from the British?. Multisensory Research, 26, 173-174.

Ngo, M. K., Velasco, C., Salgado, A., & Spence, C. (2013). Assessing crossmodal correspondences in exotic fruit juices: The case of shape and sound symbolism. Food Quality & Preference, 28, 361-369.

Piqueras-Fiszman, B., Velasco, C., Salgado-Montejo, A., & Spence, C. (2013). Using combined eye tracking and word association in order to assess novel packaging solutions: A case study involving jam jars. Food Quality & Preference, 28, 328-338.

Velasco, C., Jones, R., King, S., & Spence, C. (2013). The sound of temperature: What information do pouring sounds convey concerning the temperature of a beverage. The Journal of Sensory Studies, 28, 335-345.

2012

Piqueras-Fiszman, B., Velasco, C., & Spence, C. (2012). Exploring implicit and explicit crossmodal colour-flavour correspondences in product packaging. Food Quality & Preference, 25, 148-155.

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Selected conference presentations

2021

Velasco, C., Barbosa Escobar, F., & Wang, Q. J.(2021). Impossible food experiences in virtual reality. CHI 2021: The future of human-food interaction, Online.

Barbosa Escobar, F., Velasco, C., Byrne, D., & Wang, J. Q. (2021). Embodied temperature influences chocolate flavor and texture perception: A pilot study. CHI 2021: Smell, taste, and temperature interfaces, Online.

2020

Barbosa Escobar, F., Wang, Q. J., Byrne, D. V., Corredor, A., & Velasco, C. (2020). Tasting visual textures. Eurosense 2020, Online.

Pombo, M. & Velasco, C. (2020). On how aesthetic features convey the concept of brand premiumness. 2020 AMA Winter Academic Conference, San Diego, USA.

2019

Romeo, E. & Velasco, C. (2019). Assessing the influence of packaging label symmetry, curvature, and colour on the perception of brand premiumness. 13th Pangborn Sensory Science Symposium, Edinburgh, Scotland.

Velasco, C. & Veflen, N. (2019). Evaluating the role of context in consumers’ aesthetic evaluations, and approach/avoidance associations, of plating symmetry. 13th Pangborn Sensory Science Symposium, Edinburgh, Scotland.

2018

Obrist, M., Tu, Y., Yao, L., & Velasco, C. (2018). Designing eating experiences for space travel. 69^th International Astronautical Congress. Bremen, Germany.

Velasco, C., Adams, C., Petit, O., & Spence, C. (2018). Localizing taste and products with characteristic tastes in 2D space. SenseAsia, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Velasco, C., Salgado, R., & Le Faucheur, S. (2018). An exploratory study on the multisensory semantic space of beer premiumness. SenseAsia, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Leong, J., Corneau, S., & Velasco, C. (2018). Evaluating the implicit and explicit associations between coffee samples and need states of Singapore consumers. SenseAsia, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

2017

Velasco, C., Woods, A. T., & Spence, C. (2017). Real-time online sensory marketing research. 12th Pangborn Sensory Science Symposium, Providence, RI, USA.

Velasco, C., Pathank, A., & Spence, C. (2017). The sweet taste of beer brand names. 12th Pangborn Sensory Science Symposium, Providence, RI, USA.

2016

Velasco, C., Obrist, M., Petit, O., Karunanayaka, K., Cheok, A. D., & Spence, C. (2016). Cross-modal correspondences in the context of digital taste and flavor interaces. CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, San Jose, CA, USA.

Obrist, M., Velasco, C., Vi, C. T., Ranasinghe, N., Israr, A., Cheok, A. D., Spence, C., & Gopalakrishnakone, P. (2016). Touch, taste, & smell user interfaces: The future of multisensory HCI. CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, San Jose, CA, USA.

2015

Petit, O., Velasco, C., Cheok, A. D., & Spence, C. (2015). Consumer sensory neuroscience in the context of food marketing. Advancements in Computer Entertainment, Medini, Iskandar, Malaysia.

Petit, O., Cheok, A. D., Spence, C., Velasco, C., & Karunanayaka, K. (2015). Sensory marketing in light of new technologies. Advancements in Computer Entertainment, Medini, Iskandar, Malaysia.

Salgado-Montejo, A., Alvarado, J., Velasco, C., Salgado, C. J., Hasse, K., & Spence, C. (2015). The Influence of angularity, symmetry, and the number of elements on shape-valence and shape-taste matches. British Psychology Society Cognitive Psychology Section Annual Conference, University of Kent, Kent, UK.

2014

Knoeferle, K., Knoeferle, P., Velasco, C., & Spence, C. (2014). Multisensory brand search: How the meaning of sound guides consumers’ visual attention. Poster presented at the Association of Consumer Research North American Conference, October, Baltimore, MD, USA.

Velasco, C., Wan, X., Xi, Z., Salgado-Montejo, A., Gibson, E., Raslescu, A., & Spence, C. (2014). Colour/flavour congruence facilitates classification and search for food products. Talk given at the Rethinking the Senses Research Day, June, Senate House, London University, London, UK.

Spence, C., Velasco, C., Piqueras-Fiszman, B., Woods, A. T., & Wan, X. (2014). Cross-cultural differences in the meaning of colour, and their crossmodal consequences for multisensory flavour perception. SenseAsia, SingEx, Singapore.

2013

Velasco, C., Salgado-Montejo, A., Gómez, C., Maya, C., & Spence, C. (2013). Assessing the influence of shape on consumer’s visual exploration of product packaging. 10^th Pangborn Sensory Science Symposium, August, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Maric, Y., Velasco, C., Spence, C., & Jacquot, M. (2013). On the colours of odours: Are the French really so different from the British? The 14th International Multisensory Research Forum, May, Jerusalem, Israel.

2012

Velasco, C., Jones, R., King, S., & Spence, C. (2012). “Hot or cold?” On the informative value of auditory cues in the perception of the temperature of a beverage. Audio Branding Congress, December, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom.