We’ve seen some crazy concept TVs over the years but few can match the far-out prototype “lickable” TV screen developed by Japanese professor Yoshiaki Miyashita.
The professor from Japan’s Meiji University has created what he calls “Taste the TV”, or TTV, which he claims is able to imitate food flavours.
The TTV combines video images with realistic tastes that are created using a carousel of 10 flavour canisters (including sweet, sour, spicy and savory tastes) that spray the screen in combination to recreate the taste of whatever food is being shown on the display. So if you’re looking at a cornish pasty, give it a quick lick and that is – apparently – exactly what it will taste like.
The recreated flavours are apparently sprayed onto a hygienic film that’s stuck over the display, so it can presumably be removed after the taste sensation.
Prof. Miyashita said that his technology can enhance the way people connect and interact with the outside world in the COVID-19 era.
“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 insisted.
Miyashita told Reuters he had previously with a team of around 30 students to create a range of flavour-related devices, such as a fork that he says can make food taste even richer. He explained that the TTV prototype took about a year to build and that, if commercialized, it could be manufactured for around 100,000 yen (£653).
“I’m thinking of making a platform where tastes from all over the world can be distributed as ‘taste content’”, the professor said. He envisions a world where people can download flavours from different restaurants to virtually experience the items on their menus.
Other possible applications might be distance learning for sommeliers and cooks, or tasting games and quizzes, Prof. Miyashita said.
He revealed some companies have already shown interest in using his spray technologies for other devices that can apply, for example, a chocolate or a pizza taste to a slice of bread.
Meiji University Yuki Hou demonstrated how TTTV works to Reuters’ reporters, telling the voice-activated display she’s like to taste sweet chocolate. “It’s kind of like milk chocolate, it’s sweet like a chocolate sauce,” she said.
