Scientists create ‘e-Taste’ device that could add flavour to virtual reality experiences | Science

If your colleague bores you to tears with pictures of their lunch, then a new gadget could make your life even worse.

Scientists have developed a device to recreate the flavours of food and drink, allowing them to be shared remotely in a matter of seconds – but they have not yet cracked spicy food.

They say the gadget, which they have called “e-Taste”, could be used to enhance virtual reality and augmented reality systems, boosting immersive experiences. It could also prove useful for biomedical research or even, the team suggests, for “virtual food adventures”.

“Potential applications include immersive gaming, online shopping, remote education, weight management, sensory testing, physical rehabilitation and others,” the researchers write.

However, the team notes the system requires further development, not least as there are taste sensations the device cannot reproduce, such as spiciness and fattiness.

While it is now possible share images, sounds and even physical sensations with others remotely, sharing smells or tastes has proved more challenging.

Despite previous attempts by some researchers, the team behind the new study notes that there are numerous hurdles, not least that directly stimulating the tongue electronically or with warmth only enables a few tastes to be evoked; the use of chemicals can pose problems for reliability; and the arrangement of tastebuds on the tongue means it is necessary to target particular areas to create particular sensations.

Writing in the journal Science Advances, the US-based scientists report how their e-Taste device has two key components. The first is a sensing platform – or “electronic tongue” – that captures data about the concentration of five different taste chemicals in a liquidised sample of a food or drink and sends the information wirelessly to the second component. This device uses small electromagnetic pumps to push liquids through a layer of gel containing five edible taste chemicals, allowing their delivery to an outlet, placed in a recipient’s mouth, to be controlled.

The five taste chemicals, which can be mixed before delivery, correspond to those detected in the original consumable item: glucose, which creates a sweet sensation; citric acid, which produces a sour taste; sodium chloride, which generates a salty flavour; magnesium chloride, a bitter taste; and glutamate, which elicits the savoury taste known as umami.

The team adds that the system also allows flavours to be delivered to specific regions of the tongue – something they say could be used to investigate human taste perception.

“People will get something like a straw in their mouth, and thus placing it to specific locations when needed,” said Yizhen Jia, a co-author of the study from Ohio State University.

The team then conducted a number of tests. Among them, 10 volunteers were asked to sample different sour intensities in the liquids generated by the system, with the results revealing they were able to do so with an overall accuracy rate of 70%.

In another test six volunteers were asked to sample different combinations of liquids containing the flavour chemicals, with the combinations designed to represent five different edible items – lemonade, cake, fried egg, coffee, and fish soup. They were then asked to taste a liquid generated by the system and select the foods they thought it represented. Overall they completed the task with accuracy rate of almost 87% – although spiciness is yet to be cracked.

Marianna Obrist, a professor of multisensory interfaces at University College London, who was not involved in the work, welcomed the study.

“Taste stimulation is a particularly challenging area, yet the authors seem to present a compelling integration of taste sensations to enrich digital experiences,” she said.