Japan pioneers TV you can taste with new ‘lickable’ screen

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This was published 5 months ago

Japan pioneers TV you can taste with new ‘lickable’ screen

By Rikako Murayama and Rocky Swift

Tokyo: A Japanese professor has developed a prototype lickable TV screen that can imitate food flavours, another step towards creating a multi-sensory viewing experience.

The device, called Taste the TV, uses a carousel of 10 flavour canisters that spray in combination to create the taste of a particular food. The flavour 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 connect and interact with the outside world, said Meiji University professor Homei Miyashita.

Ten different flavour canisters release a blend of tastes onto a screen over the image.

Ten different flavour canisters release a blend of tastes onto a screen over the image. Credit:Reuters/Kim Kyung-Hoon

“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 flavour-related devices, including a fork that makes food taste richer. He said he built the TV prototype himself over the past year and that a commercial version would cost about 100,000 yen ($1,210) to make.

Potential applications include distance learning for sommeliers and cooks, and tasting games and quizzes, he said.

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Miyashita has also been in talks with companies about using his spray technology for applications such as a device that can apply a pizza or chocolate taste to a slice of toasted bread.

He also hopes to make a platform where tastes from around the world can be downloaded and enjoyed by users, much like music is now.

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One Meiji student demonstrated the lickable TV 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.”

Reuters

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