Scientists Create ‘E-Tongue’ That Lets You Taste Cake in Virtual Reality!

Researchers at Ohio State University, led by Yizhen Jia, have developed a new technology called e-Taste, an electronic tongue that can simulate basic flavors like those found in cake and other foods. The system works by using five chemicals to replicate the basic tastes: salty, sour, sweet, bitter, and umami. These chemicals are detected by sensors, and the data is converted into digital signals. A pump delivers flavored hydrogels through a tube placed under the user’s tongue to recreate the taste.

In tests, e-Taste successfully replicated individual flavors like sourness, with a 70% accuracy rate. It also performed well in replicating more complex flavors such as lemonade, cake, and coffee, with over 80% accuracy. However, experts caution that taste is more than just flavor—it also involves other sensory elements like aroma and color, which e-Taste doesn’t fully simulate. While the technology shows promise, it still has limitations in mimicking the complete sensory experience of eating.

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• Ohio State’s e-Taste Device Brings Virtual Reality a Step Closer to Real Taste

Scientists Create ‘E-Tongue’ That Lets You Taste Cake in Virtual Reality!

Scientists at Ohio State University, led by Yizhen Jia, have developed an electronic tongue, called e-Taste, that can simulate basic flavors, including those found in cake, to enhance virtual reality (VR) experiences. The system analyzes food samples using five key chemicals that correspond to basic tastes: salty (sodium chloride), sour (citric acid), sweet (glucose), bitter (magnesium chloride), and umami (glutamate). These chemicals cover a broad range of everyday foods.

The technology works by using sensors to detect the concentration of these taste components, which are then converted into digital signals. A pump delivers small amounts of flavoured hydrogels to a tube placed under the user’s tongue to simulate the taste.

In testing, e-Taste was able to replicate individual flavors, with participants rating its ability to mimic sourness accurately in 70% of cases. The system also successfully recreated more complex flavors like lemonade, cake, fried egg, fish soup, and coffee, with a high success rate of over 80% in recognition by participants.

However, experts like Alan Chalmers from the University of Warwick warn that taste is influenced by other factors such as aroma and color.

While e-Taste can replicate basic flavors like salty, sour, sweet, bitter, and umami, it does not fully mimic the complete sensory experience of eating. The human perception of taste is not just limited to the five basic flavors; it is influenced by various other factors such as aroma, texture, temperature, and visual cues. For instance, the smell of food plays a crucial role in how we experience its flavor. When you eat, your sense of smell interacts with taste to enhance or alter the perception of flavors. For example, the aroma of freshly baked bread or the smell of a ripe fruit can make it seem sweeter, even if the actual taste doesn’t change.

Additionally, the texture and temperature of food contribute significantly to how we perceive taste. Foods like crunchy chips or creamy desserts offer distinct sensations that influence their flavor. e-Taste currently lacks the ability to replicate these tactile experiences, which are key to the overall enjoyment of food.

Moreover, visual cues, such as the color of food, also play a vital role in taste perception. For example, the color red can signal ripeness or sweetness, influencing how we interpret a food’s taste. Until technologies like e-Taste can incorporate these multisensory aspects, they will only offer a limited version of the real eating experience.

 

Ohio State’s e-Taste Device Brings Virtual Reality a Step Closer to Real Taste

Researchers at Ohio State University have created a groundbreaking device called “e-Taste” that allows users to experience the taste of food in virtual reality, without actually eating it. This innovation addresses a long-standing gap in VR and AR, which has struggled to engage the sense of taste. While VR has made progress with visual, auditory, and tactile immersion, taste has been notably absent.

The e-Taste device works by analyzing the molecular composition of food and transmitting that data to recreate the taste remotely. The system uses an “electronic tongue” to detect five key taste molecules—glucose (sweet), citric acid (sour), sodium chloride (salty), magnesium chloride (bitter), and glutamate (umami). A small electromagnetic pump then delivers a mixture of these flavors through a hydrogel, letting the user experience the corresponding tastes.

In tests, the e-Taste successfully recreated the taste of lemonade, with users in different locations able to experience the drink’s sweet and sour notes. Other trials mimicked various food flavors, with an impressive 86.7% accuracy in distinguishing the tastes. However, the device is limited in some ways—it cannot replicate texture or temperature and struggles with complex sensations like spiciness or fattiness.

The device opens up exciting possibilities for enhancing virtual experiences, but further advancements are needed for more complex culinary sensations.