The image is called "ScreenShot20211223at" and is on thecdn.vox-cdn.com.
You can see the menu. The menu should be tasted.
The Meiji University is pictured.
A professor has created a device he calls "Taste the TV", which he claims will help you "Taste the TV" better. Homei Miyashita hopes his TV will allow people to experience things like far-away world-class restaurants without leaving their home, which has become an increasingly understandable desire in the past two years of the Pandemic.
Researchers blended up various foods and used sensors to taste them in a demonstration video. Then, chemicals are sprayed onto a plastic sheet or a disposable tray for those who don't feel comfortable licking a plastic-covered screen, in combinations that recreate the flavor. The sheet is rolled out over the display so that you can lick the sweet chemicals off of it.
Hopefully, you enjoy the screen with your real tongue, rather than a demonstration one like they use in the video.
The video shows off a number of practical ideas for how the system could be used, such as a menu that gives you an idea of what the food will taste like, a way to train wine testers, or a device that lets you add flavor to crackers. I want to use it to taste things from movies and TV shows. Would it be like 3D movies at home? We wish we could lick our screens while watching internet cooking videos.
Miyashita thinks he can make a commercial version of the TV for $875. Even if the price was a lot higher, it was still less than I would have expected, and there is always room for a printer ink-style business model where the real cost is in the flavor. I will pay any price for the ultimate Great British Bake Off experience.
I know that it wouldn't be ideal to watch a show or movie on a version of the device shown in the video that is more like a kiosk than a television. It would be a pain in the neck to watch something while being close enough to the screen to lick it. Why should we allow practical considerations to get in the way of being able to taste what Remy Ratatouille is saying about cheese and strawberries? I am aware that you can buy these foods, but I would not want to ruin the experience by trying a different type of cheese or strawberry.
Maybe Miyashita's idea of a lickable screen is more suited to information systems than entertainment. It is easy to imagine a day when the taste system on the TV is disconnected and you can just have a little flavor dispenser that sprays the delicious, delicious chemicals onto a tray. Movie theaters could install mini versions of them to flavor your popcorn in ways that compliment the scene, and who wouldn't want to eat sand and spice popcorn while watching Dune part two?
