-Angelot ndongmo-
Cousins!
We’re about to legit “taste the rainbow!” A professor from Meiji University in Tokyo Japan, has created a mind blowing experience for our taste buds. He developed a tasteable TV screen prototype that is said to imitate the flavors of foods. All customers have to do is lick the strip!
The Sydney Morning Herald outlined how the developer uses 10 containers of different flavors, that spritz in a synchronous fashion to create full flavors of a specific food. Once that process is complete, the flavor profile is then placed on a hygienic film over a flat TV screen so the viewer can taste the ‘mouth watering’ concoction that they see on the screen. It is currently called ‘Taste the TV’.
Meiji University professor Homei Miyashita, expressed that the technology is very welcomed, particularly during the pandemic. It sounds like Taste the TV would allow people from around the world to embark on a culinary journey right from the comforts of their own homes. Miyashita said, “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.”
Though the professor works with a team of 30 students who have put up their own unique contributions towards flavor-related devices, he created his own prototype over the course of a year. To actually produce a commercial version of his multi-sensory invention would cost approximately $100,000 yen, which equals out to $870 USD.
One of the students showed the media how Taste the TV works. First she spoke to the screen stating she wanted to taste sweet chocolate. It didn’t happen right away, but one of the few tries a voice-activated repeated her request. Containers sprayed flavours in harmony across a plastic film. She told the media “It’s kind of like milk chocolate. It’s sweet like a chocolate sauce.”
There are many ways to utilize Miyashita’s technology. Companies have reached out for their own interests in his spray technology to discuss applications for a device that attaches specific tastes to specific foods such as pizza or chocolate flavors to a slice of toasted bread.
The University professor foresees distance learning applications, for those taking culinary courses around the world like sommeliers and cooks. He also foresees tasting games and quizzes to utilize his unique invention. By the time his technology reaches its full potential, he hopes to become somewhat of a ‘Napster’ of nibbling. Where people can download and taste foods anywhere in the world, much like how music is enjoyed now.
One would imagine the Food Network would never be the same with this technology. Perhaps viewers could finally determine for themselves, once and for all if the foods they see on their cooking shows or social media channels taste as good as they look. A total game changer!