Virtual Cookie: How VR changes taste

Japanese researchers hack the brains of their test subjects and simulate different flavours using artificial fragrances and VR glasses. The testers think they are eating something completely different to what they are actually putting in their mouths.

A biscuit that can contain five different flavours, even though its composition never changes? An exciting experiment from Japan shows how quickly our brain can be manipulated and literally eats everything.

Taste bud update with VR

What initially sounds like a mere gimmick and, above all, a crazy idea, actually involves a serious research approach. The initial question posed by the laboratory connoisseurs at the Cyber Interface Lab at the University of Tokyo is: "How can we manipulate the human senses to create new eating experiences?" Senior assistant professor Takuji Narumi wants to give people a taste bud update.

Change the flavour with a tube and VR

The specialised scientific kitchen team hacked the brains of the test subjects with VR glasses and aromas without changing the food itself. The research team uses the VR glasses to project a chocolate image onto a biscuit and directs artificial cocoa flavours into a test person's nose via tubes. The tester actually thinks they have a chocolate biscuit in their mouth instead of a normal butter biscuit. And this despite the fact that the test person even saw the change in colour.

The test person looks sceptically at his biscuit.

With their approach, the Tokyo researchers are not manipulating food, but human perception. It has long been proven from other studies that we can easily trick our brain. For example, if we pretend to be happy for 60 seconds with a simple artificial laugh, our brain releases happiness hormones. Something similar happens to our taste buds.

The YouTube clip shows how the whole thing is supposed to work.

Dieting with VR is easy

The research harbours enormous potential for very different areas. Astronauts, for example, or people who have to avoid certain foods for health reasons, are likely to look forward to VR flavours.

The researchers hope that VR glasses could also make dieting easier: If you want to eat less, in future you will not only be able to change the composition or flavour in VR, you will also be able to adjust the size of a dish. Among other things, this would make you feel full more quickly.

Source: VRscout / Motherboard / Youtube