Scientists have invented a device that allows people to taste different flavours while in virtual reality environments.
The researchers claim the invention will bring a new dimension to VR by transcending the visual and auditory limitations of current interfaces.
The e-Taste device, developed by a team from Ohio State University, delivers a combination of the five basic taste sensations – sweet, salty, sour, bitter and umami – in order to replicate the experience of tasting something.
“The chemical dimension in the current VR and AR realm is relatively underrepresented, especially when we talk about olfaction and gustation,” said Jinghua Li, an assistant professor of materials science and engineering at Ohio State.
“It’s a gap that needs to be filled and we’ve developed that with this next-generation system.”
A prototype of the e-Taste, which takes the form of a small cube attached to a plastic strip, has already been successfully tested on humans.
The cube contains electric sensors capable of recognising food objects in a VR environment, which it then reproduces by releasing food-grade chemicals through the plastic strip.
Flavours generated during the human experiments included cake, coffee, fish soup, fried egg and lemonade, with the device able to adjust the intensity and strength of the flavour.
Other attempts to create taste sensations in virtual reality have included lollipop-shaped devices and modified spoons that replicate certain flavours, however none are yet to produce such a substantial range of flavours.
The Ohio State researchers are now aiming to enhance and miniaturize the technology in the hope that developers will create new VR experiences with the e-Taste device. Potential applications could include remote shopping and VR restaurants.
"This will help people connect in virtual spaces in never-before-seen ways," said Li. "This concept is here and it is a good first step to becoming a small part of the metaverse."
The e-Taste device was detailed in the journal Science Advances in a paper titled ‘A sensor-actuator–coupled gustatory interface chemically connecting virtual and real environments for remote tasting’.
