“I bet you taste amazing. How about you transfer your taste to me?”
A sexting request like this might seem logistically tricky to fulfil, at least currently, but scientists have created a device and “e-Taste” system that recreates the flavors of some food and drink, saying that it could help VR immersion and other interactions.
A team of US-based scientists published a report in the Science Advances journal outlining their system, saying its potential use included immersive video gaming, online shopping, remote education, weight management, sensory testing and rehabilitation.
Of course, the ability to “taste” something remotely, and the development of some kind of robotic tasting tongue, could well have implications for spicy use one day (although the scientists have struggled to recreate literal spiciness with their research so far).
The scientists, who were representing various institutions, created an “electronic tongue” that can record data about certain taste chemicals when it is exposed to drink or food in liquid sample form. This ‘taste’ data is then sent to another device, which releases flavor via five edible taste chemicals.
These can then be mixed together and eaten, to provide a taste similar to that of the original given to the electronic tongue. The five chemicals used to make the flavor mix were glucose (for ‘sweetness’), citric acid (for ‘sour’), sodium chloride (for ‘salty’), magnesium chloride (for ‘bitter’) and glutamate (for an ‘umami’ taste).
In one taste test of the system, volunteers were able to correctly choose the food they thought the taste they were given with an accuracy rate of around 87 percent.
The scientists wrote that another potential use for their e-Taste technology was “virtual food adventures”, and said that taste was a sense that was lagging behind the likes of sight and touch when it came to VR.
They wrote that their investigation “pioneers a chemical dimension in AR/VR technology, paving the way for users to transcend visual and auditory virtual engagements by integrating the taste sensation into virtual environment for enhanced digital experiences.”
Could this one day be used to elevate remote VR sex sessions, either between human partners or otherwise? It wouldn’t be a huge leap to aim to transfer the taste of someone’s kiss, or perhaps another bodily element. Or create a virtual version of the classic ‘whipped cream on the nipples’ game.
Or, would the release of chemical mixes just make the whole process a lot… messier? Either way, we like what the scientists have cooked up so far.
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