Have you ever watched a food or cooking show on TV and wish you could taste the dish? A Japanese professor recently developed a prototype for a lickable TV screen. It’s designed to imitate food flavors, another step towards creating a multi-sensory viewing experience.
The device is called Taste the TV (TTTV) and uses a carousel of 10 flavor canisters that sprays different combinations to create the taste of a certain food. The flavor sample then rolls on hygienic film over a flat TV screen for the viewer to try.
In the COVID-19 era, this kind of technology can enhance the way people can interact and connect with other parts of the world, said Meiji University professor Homei Miyashita.
“The goal is to make it possible for people to have the experience of something like eating at a restaurant on the other side of the world, even while staying at home,” he said.
Miyashita works with a team of about 30 students that has produced a variety of flavor-related devices, including a fork that makes food taste richer.
He mentioned that he built the TV tasting device himself over the past year and that there is a commercial version on the way that would cost about 100,000 yen ($875) to make.
A Japanese professor has created a TV that can be tasted. This prototype lickable screen can imitate food flavors https://t.co/JWVhiTRtHt 📺 pic.twitter.com/5GxiDd0lYu
— Reuters (@Reuters) December 23, 2021
Some of the potential applications include distance learning for sommeliers and cooks, and tasting games and quizzes, he said.
Miyashita has also been in talks with several companies about using his spray technology for different applications, like a device that can apply a pizza or chocolate taste to a slice of toasted bread.
He also hopes to make a platform where people can download and taste food from around the, much like music is now.
One Meiji student demonstrated TTTV for reporters, telling the screen she wanted to taste sweet chocolate. After a few tries, an automated voice repeated the order and flavour jets spritzed a sample onto a plastic sheet.
“It’s kind of like milk chocolate,” she said. “It’s sweet like a chocolate sauce.” What are your thoughts on this?
($1 = 114.1900 yen)
Source: Reuters
