Explainer | ‘Dark cafes’: scent-based dating booms in South Korea as people turn to primal instincts
- As patience runs out with so-called ‘fast-food’ methods of meeting love of your life, some are turning to basic instincts
A new scent-based system of dating has emerged in South Korea in which young people meet in “dark cafes” to avoid seeing each other.
The meet-up trend aims to trigger primal instincts rather than rely on physical appearance.
So, what lies behind this strange dating method which is growing in popularity.
How does it work?
The need to upload selfies or engage in pre-meet chats on dating apps is dispensed with. Preferences are entered into an app that uses AI techniques to make matches.
This process can take a day or up to two months depending on the circumstances.
Once matched, couples head to “dark cafes,” where they are asked to select a scent theme from ocean, fruit, or wood before being led into a pitch-black room to engage in an hour-long conversation.
Here, they rely only on their sense of smell and other enhanced senses due to the darkness, to form a connection.