The desire to taste the food being shown on TV is one that is rather commonplace. It was even portrayed as one of the fantastical technologies in 2005’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.
Homei Miyashita, a professor at Meiji University in Tokyo, has created a device called “Taste the TV” (TTTV) which brings us a step closer to that fantasy. This device uses a carousel of canisters that spray a combination of flavours onto a plastic film over the TV screen so viewers can lick and taste the food on screen. Then, the plastic film is rolled away for disposal, with a clean, new film covering the screen.
In an interview with Reuters, Miyashita mentioned distance learning for sommeliers and cooks, tasting games, and quizzes as potential applications for the TTTV. He built the prototype over the past year, and stated that a commercial version of the device would cost about 100,000 yen (US$875) to make.
“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.
While the idea of making flavours all around the world accessible from the comfort of one’s own home is enticing, it is difficult to tell how practical and popular this technology would be, given that it is in its nascent stage.
Brandon shapeshifts between being a nerd and a geek like Mystique, but with fewer options. He reads an unhealthy amount of comics and manga, while playing a healthy amount of board games and video games.
Gerald
Si Jia
