We've all been there — watching late-night TV and a commercial comes on for something that looks positively mouthwatering. Maybe it's yummy pizza, a refreshing beer, or steamed chicken wings. We think "how I wish I could get my hands on that right now" but instead settle for a bowl of instant noodles or some biscuits and cheese.
A Japanese professor wants to change that, and has developed a prototype for a lickable television screen device that can imitate food flavors.
According to a report from Reuters, the device is called Taste the TV (TTTV) and it uses a moving belt of flavor canisters (气雾罐) that spray in combination to imitate the tastes of particular foods. The device works by releasing flavor from 10 canisters onto a sheet of film that is rolled over the TV or tablet screen, which users can lick.
"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, " Homei Miyashita, a professor at Meiji University in Tokyo, told Reuters, adding that it could be beneficial for people who want to interact with foods from around the world during the pandemic.
According to a demonstration video, researchers mixed various foods and used sensors to "taste" them. The video shows other ways the TTTV could be used. For instance, you could add flavoring to toast, or make one food taste like something else entirely. The canisters can spray different flavors, which mix them together to create the desired taste profile.
Miyashita told Reuters the device could also be helpful for distance learning classes for cooks or chefs, or could be used for tasting games and quizzes.
