Forget the sight: if a university professor's invention (a TV screen that you can lick to taste flavors) makes it out of the lab, Taste TV could really catch on.
Un Reuters article and details from Meiji University show that the TTTV of Prof. Yoshiaki Miyashita is a TV that mixes real flavors and video images.
How "the tv of flavors" works
Currently things work like this: Miyashita's team starts by “capturing” the flavors from real food. A spray mixing system with 10 containers (including sweet, sour, spicy and salty) on the display replicates the flavors and places them on a clear sheet in front of the video near the images.
What purpose does it serve?
And you ask me? In the demo "offered" by TTTV there is currently a "less to taste", a "alcohol tasting" and a remote training system for sommeliers.
The subjects in the videos given to Reuters lick the screen to taste the flavors. In another video on Miyashita Lab's YouTube channel (see below), a rubber fake tongue is used to pick up the flavors sprayed on the display.
Professor Miyashita told Reuters TV: “I am thinking of creating a platform where flavors from all over the world can be distributed as content.” He added that he envisions people “downloading” fragrances from restaurants around the world to experience virtually.
What do I think
Miyashita's invention has been making headlines since last month, when he won a Innovative Technologies Award at Digital Content EXPO 2021 in Chiba, Japan.
Overcoming the shock the obvious questions are “how many flavors can TTTV really reproduce? How do you ensure they are faithful to the 'originals'? And again, especially these days, but when the whole system is hygienic ".
I leave their answers to each one. One question stands out above all, though: do we really need to lick the screen, or would it be "enough" to exercise a little imagination?
