In a quiet lab at the City University of Hong Kong, researchers have built a device that lets you taste the virtual world.
This sleek, lollipop-shaped interface delivers nine vivid flavors—sugar, salt, citric acid, cherry, passion fruit, green tea, milk, durian, and grapefruit—using flavored hydrogels and precise electrical stimulation. It's not just a gimmick. The device uses iontophoresis, a method where charged ions transport food-safe chemicals to the surface of the lollipop, where they mix with saliva to trigger realistic taste sensations. The stronger the electrical current, the more intense the flavor.
Compared to earlier attempts involving bulky chemical sprays or awkward electrodes, this innovation is compact, portable, and refreshingly low-power. Weighing just 15 grams, the device is embedded with ultrathin circuit boards, Bluetooth connectivity, and a 3D-printed nylon shell. The red algae-based hydrogels sit in nine taste channels and activate only when stimulated, ensuring flavor delivery remains clean, safe, and user-controlled.
Scent integration adds another layer of realism, with seven odor channels enriching the user’s flavor perception. Its potential applications stretch beyond gaming. Imagine taste-testing food before buying it online, training chefs in a virtual classroom, or helping diagnose taste disorders with a digital lick instead of lab samples.
Each session currently lasts about an hour, limited by the shrinking gels, but researchers are already working on longer-lasting and more versatile designs. It’s a taste of what’s to come in extended reality—where digital worlds may soon engage all five senses with stunning fidelity.
#vr #virtualreality #xr #futuretech #wearabletech #hci #taste #immersivetech #multisensory #techinnovation #augmentedreality #mixedreality
Source: 10.1073/pnas.2412116121
In a quiet lab at the City University of Hong Kong, researchers have built a device that lets you taste the virtual world.
This sleek, lollipop-shaped interface delivers nine vivid flavors—sugar, salt, citric acid, cherry, passion fruit, green tea, milk, durian, and grapefruit—using flavored hydrogels and precise electrical stimulation. It's not just a gimmick. The device uses iontophoresis, a method where charged ions transport food-safe chemicals to the surface of the lollipop, where they mix with saliva to trigger realistic taste sensations. The stronger the electrical current, the more intense the flavor.
Compared to earlier attempts involving bulky chemical sprays or awkward electrodes, this innovation is compact, portable, and refreshingly low-power. Weighing just 15 grams, the device is embedded with ultrathin circuit boards, Bluetooth connectivity, and a 3D-printed nylon shell. The red algae-based hydrogels sit in nine taste channels and activate only when stimulated, ensuring flavor delivery remains clean, safe, and user-controlled.
Scent integration adds another layer of realism, with seven odor channels enriching the user’s flavor perception. Its potential applications stretch beyond gaming. Imagine taste-testing food before buying it online, training chefs in a virtual classroom, or helping diagnose taste disorders with a digital lick instead of lab samples.
Each session currently lasts about an hour, limited by the shrinking gels, but researchers are already working on longer-lasting and more versatile designs. It’s a taste of what’s to come in extended reality—where digital worlds may soon engage all five senses with stunning fidelity.
#vr #virtualreality #xr #futuretech #wearabletech #hci #taste #immersivetech #multisensory #techinnovation #augmentedreality #mixedreality
Source: 10.1073/pnas.2412116121
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