If you’ve ever watched a cooking show and wished you could taste the food on a computer, scientists may now have the answer.
Thanks to the researchers of the City University of Hong Kongsoon it may be possible to get a taste of reality.
Scientists have developed a shiny VR device that can create ‘transformative flavors’ in the real world.
In the future, these strange devices can create food shows like Great Britain Bake Off more deeply than before as the spectators savor the food beside him Paul Hollywood and Prue Leith.
The ‘lollipop-shaped taste interfacing systems’ can produce up to nine flavors.
Currently, these include sugar, salt, citric acid, cherry, passion fruit, green tea, milk, durian, and grapefruit.
Each injection is made using food-grade chemicals that are stored in gel bags – a gel that is usually derived from red algae.
When an electric current is applied to the lollipop, the drug rises to the surface of the gel and water that mixes with saliva on the tongue to release the flavor.
Scientists have developed a VR lollipop that allows users to taste virtual reality. Image: The artist’s view of the device in use
This could make food shows like The Great Britain Bake Off even more immersive as viewers try the food alongside hosts Paul Hollywood and Prue Leith (pictured).
As augmented and mixed reality become more common, researchers are busy looking for ways to make our virtual worlds more immersive.
Scientists have found ways to recreate the senses of sight, sound, and real touch using ‘haptic’ devices.
Other researchers have also developed devices that can simulate smells in the familiar world using a device like the Smell-O-Vision attached under the nose.
However, taste has proven to be the most difficult of all five concepts to recreate in real life.
In a paper published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Secretary General Dr. Yiming Liu and co-authors write: ‘Along with the visual, auditory, auditory, and olfactory senses, taste has a profound effect on the human body and mind.
‘However, research into the development of taste-enhancing technologies in VR applications is still in its infancy.’
The researchers’ solution is a device that looks like a plastic tube with metal electrodes placed around it.
Each of these points contains a package of agarose gel mixed with aromatic compounds.
The device is shaped like a lollipop and contains packets of gel mixed with flavoring chemicals such as sugar, salt, citric acid, cherry, passion fruit, green tea, milk, durian, or grapefruit.
When an electric current is applied to the gels, the sweet chemicals rise to the surface and mix with the user’s saliva for a taste sensation. Scientists have combined these waves with virtual reality to allow users to taste digital objects
The special properties of this gel means that, if there is no instant, someone who licks the device will not be able to taste anything.
But when water is applied to the gel, a process called iontophoresis causes the aromatic chemicals to rise to the surface.
Now, when someone licks the device, they can taste whatever flavor is simulated.
If there is too much water, most of the flavoring compounds are pushed to the surface and create a strong taste.
By changing the voltage applied to the nine modes, the device can adapt to a wide range of possible settings.
The researchers also created VR lollipops with just two to five gels that could produce more flavor at a variable cost.
To keep the whole setup stable, the researchers made the lollipop as light as possible.
Even when loaded with gels, the device only weighs 15g which is about the weight of a AAA battery.
The scientists say that this could be used in digital shopping, allowing users to sample products from the convenience store before buying. Image: artist’s impression of a device in use at home
The researchers write: ‘We report an intelligent and flexible lollipop-shaped system that covers two to nine types of adaptive sensors in virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), and mixed reality (MR) environments.’
To complete the information, the paper also describes the lollipop it can be combined with a seven-way smell simulator.
This device uses scented seraph sticks to create a scent that matches what the user can see.
By combining taste and smell, scientists can get as close as possible to real food experiences.
In their paper, the scientists mention three areas that they think will help them use their device.
First, they say that the lollipop can be used to provide a ‘medical gustation assessment’ that has the same taste as an eye test from an ophthalmologist.
Secondly, Dr Liu says the device could be used for ‘remote shopping’ which would allow users to taste food before buying.
Finally, he adds that the VR lollipop can be useful for ‘mixed reality’ applications where, for example, a child can see the taste of different foods.
The researchers combined their taste device with an odor representation (picture) to recreate the whole food experience. An olfactory experimenter places small sticks of paraffin under the nostrils that are manipulated to create an odor that matches the real world.
The researchers decided to use other methods to create a taste test such as electrostimulation that works with current directly on the tongue to trick the body into feeling the taste.
Previous studies have shown that low electric currents in cutters or clamps can be used to make food more salty than it is.
However, the researchers chose to use the gel method since the weak currents required were deemed safe.
The only downside to this method is that the gels can wear out quickly.
Currently, the authors say that the digital lollipop can be used for an hour to allow the chemical gel to wear down until it needs to be replaced.
Although the possible flavors are limited at the moment, moving forward the researchers say they will explore ways to add more flavors and improve the length of the device.
