The Japanese have taken technology one step further, inventing a lickable TV screen that imitates taste through the flavour of foods.
The professor who developed the prototype has taken taste to the next level, allowing viewers the opportunity to enthral an additional sense.
The device has been called the Taste TV (TTTV) and uses 10 flavour canisters loaded on a carousel, that spray in certain combinations.
Never fear, the experience is COVID-safe with a new hygienic film being rolled over the flat-screen TV for each individual viewing.
Speaking of COVID, the device brings us all one step closer to an immersive multi-sensory viewing experience without having to leave our own homes.
Homeo Miyashita, a professor at Meiji University in Tokyo said that the advancement will allow people to connect and interact with the outside world.
“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.
#Japan: The device, called Taste the TV (TTTV), 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 tryhttps://t.co/bByK1YsSbF pic.twitter.com/pp4M9hOzQ5
— Khaleej Times (@khaleejtimes) December 23, 2021
This isn’t Miyashita’s first flavour themed venture. The professor works with a team of 30 students to develop devices that incorporate and even enhance taste.
The creations include a fork that makes food taste richer in flavour.
The TTTV has been in the works for the past year and a commercial adaptation of the device would cost 100,000 yen ($1208AUD) to manufacture.
The device has been proposed as a long-distance learning tool for cooks and sommeliers, along with tasting games and quizzes.
The excitement doesn’t end there for flavour enthusiasts…Miyashita has been in contact with companies about spray-on pizza or chocolate flavour that can be applied to toast.
A 22-year-old student of the Meiji university, Yuki Hou, gave a demonstration of the TTTV to reporters.
She set the screen to taste like sweet chocolate and after a few commands, the order was repeated by an automated voice and delivered through spray onto a plastic sheet.
Meiji student Yuki Hou, 22, demonstrated TTTV for reporters. After a few tries, an automated voice repeated the order and flavor jets spritzed a sample onto a plastic sheet.
‘It’s kind of like milk chocolate,’ she said https://t.co/HeQzgsyInX 5/5 pic.twitter.com/bKDJ7GjZOd
— Reuters (@Reuters) December 23, 2021
“It’s kind of like milk chocolate,” she said. “It’s sweet like a chocolate sauce.”
