VR is incredibly immersive when it comes to sight and hearing, developers are making progress on the tactile side, and even smell is starting to emerge, for better or worse. That leaves one last sense - whether or not anyone actually wants a taste of the virtual world, there's now a new device exploring this final frontier.
Taste is a fairly personal sensation -- and not just because it involves putting things in your mouth. There are huge differences between people and even between bites. Food that dances on your taste buds with the first bite becomes a nauseating chore by the end of the meal.
Digitally recreating the complex chemical reactions between food and tongue is a major challenge, but a new device called e-Taste is giving it its all.
Previous studies have tried stimulating the tongue with electricity and heat signals, and mixing colored lights and scents to trick people into thinking a boring glass of plain water is a customizable cocktail. The new study by researchers at Ohio State University took a different approach -- it actually injected scented chemicals into your face.
It starts by breaking down five basic flavors into related chemicals, mixes them together to represent different foods, and then squirts the mixture into your mouth. Obviously, glucose represents sweetness, and saltiness is...well, salt. Use citric acid for sourness, magnesium chloride for bitterness, and sodium glutamate for umami.
These chemicals are contained in their own small capsules inside the electronic taste device and are released in different combinations and concentrations to simulate different foods. For example, juice might be two parts sweet and three parts sour, while grilled chicken could be two parts fresh and one part salty.
When you get a virtual meal, the electronic taster cooks the recipe and releases a few drops of the prepared dish directly onto your tongue. Researchers have even shown that these flavors can be released remotely via an online connection, which is both interesting and truly covert.
As you might expect, the results so far are mixed. The team tested this by having people try to identify five different foods based on what they tasted. It turned out that they were good at identifying virtual lemonade and cake, but they tended to confuse the flavors of omelette, fish soup and coffee.
Still, it's a cool idea, and the team also plans to improve the electronic taste with more chemicals to achieve a more realistic reproduction. Maybe one day we too will be able to taste the delicious taste of the mushrooms that Mario has been devouring for decades.
The research was published in the journal Science Advances.