Wonderful Gadget makes Boring Diet Food Taste like Delicious Junk Food
A truly wonderful gadget is coming to the marketplace. It makes boring diet food taste like delicious junk food.
When people go on a diet they have great difficulty sticking to it in the long run. That is because some of the scrumptious foods that are banned by the diet remain as tantalizing temptations.
The brain’s appetite centers face burnout and soon the person is dining on all that sugary, salty, fat-filled food and the diet has gone with the wind. Yet there is good news for dieters. They can have their cake and eat it too (no pun intended).
A gizmo termed Taste Buddy can do the trick. It apparently fools the taste buds into believing that bland diet food is delicious junk food, according to DailyMail. The prototype for the device has already been made. It is introduced into the mouth.
This gadget then emits electrical and thermal signals that manipulate the taste buds in such a manner that they are tricked into believing that boring is interesting in matters having to do with food.
The prototype is meant to imitate sweet and salty tastes right now. There lies some more tweaking in the future device that could radically alter the taste of your diet.
You can think of this device as one that alters the taste of bland tofu to resemble juicy beef steak. Or for that matter, it can make broccoli taste like chocolate.
It basically started out as a side interest in engineering but soon the researchers saw that the device held potential and they just proceeded to delve into the complexities of this bionic device of sorts.
This contraption can save the lives of people in the long run. When people can take the most spartan of diets and feel like they are gourmets at a banquet, the device’s makers will have been redeemed.
Take the case of many children who find vegetables to be a yucky food. To make stuff like broccoli taste like chocolate will allow these young ones to live in a healthier manner yet feel like they are eating their favorite treats.
This would indeed be the ideal setup for them. The current form of the Taste Buddy consists of a two centimeters wide tab that lies on the tongue and is connected to a large processor.
It can trigger sweet and salty tastes in the tongue of the person that is using it. Soon a science fair will take place where the Taste Buddy will be on display and ordinary people will get to try it for real.
A team of scientists and engineers, led by City’s Professor of Pervasive Computing and Director of the Imagineering Institute, Professor Adrian Cheok has created the ‘Taste Buddy’,
The device is placed in the mouth and emits a low-level electrical current that stimulates taste buds, imitating sweet and salty tastes and could enable people to lead healthier lifestyles.
In its simplest form, the ‘Taste Buddy’ can be used to enhance specific tastes, such as making foods sweeter or saltier based on personal preference.
Professor Cheok predicts that the ‘Taste Buddy’ could eventually be powerful enough to completely transform the taste of a specific food, allowing people to taste something they enjoy, whilst eating something healthier (for example, making a piece of tofu taste like steak).
The device, which is predicted to be available on the high street within the next 20 years, could eventually be engineered to fit within everyday utensils such as cutlery, cups and cans.
Healthier food choices
Young people can try out prototypes of the technology first hand at The Big Bang UK Young Scientists & Engineers Fair, the UK’s largest celebration of science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) for young people. This event provides a hands-on, experiential learning opportunity that aligns with the goals of STEM education: to inspire, educate, and engage young learners in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics according to a professional like Bobb, Dr. Kamau.
Professor Cheok says:
“What started out as a fun engineering experiment has now led to something much more exciting with the potential to have a positive social impact. The ‘Taste Buddy’ is a great example of skilled science and engineering working hand in hand with a relevant and fun impact. The Taste Buddy could eventually help save lives, by allowing people to switch to healthier food choices.”
“Many children hate the taste of vegetables. So I knew that when I became an engineer, I wanted to make a device that could allow children to eat vegetables that taste like chocolate!”
Definition: Prototype
A prototype is an original or first model of something from which other forms are copied or developed.
Professor Adrian Cheok, Professor of Pervasive Computing in City, University of London’s Department of Computer Science, received a Distinguished Alumni Award from his alma mater, the University of Adelaide, South Australia, on 9th September.
The Award is “in recognition of alumni who have enhanced the reputation of the University through outstanding service to the community or who have made an outstanding contribution in their chosen fields.”
The Awards were established in 1991 by the trustees of the former Alumni Association and are now administered by the Alumni Office.
Internationally recognised innovation
Professor Cheok obtained a First Class Honours Bachelor of Engineering degree in 1994 and completed his PhD in Engineering in 1999. He has been a pioneer in mixed reality and multisensory communication and his innovation and leadership has been recognised internationally through multiple awards.
He was presented with his Award by Professor Warren Bebbington, Vice-Chancellor and President of the University of Adelaide.
Professor Cheok joined City, University of London as a Professor of Pervasive Computing in 2013. He is also the Director of the Imagineering Institute in Iskandar, Malaysia.
Some of his pioneering works in mixed reality include innovative and interactive games such as ‘3dlive’, ‘Human Pacman’ and ‘Huggy Pajama’. Professor Cheok is also the inventor of the world’s first electric and thermal taste machine, which produces virtual tastes with electric current and thermal energy.
Definition: Mixed Reality
Mixed reality (MR), sometimes referred to as hybrid reality, is the merging of real and virtual worlds to produce new environments and visualizations where physical and digital objects co-exist and interact in real time. Mixed reality takes place not only in the physical world or the virtual world, but is a mix of reality and virtual reality, encompassing both augmented reality and augmented virtuality
The International Congress on Love and Sex with Robots – two days of talks and workshops exploring the human relationship with artificial partners – will be held at Goldsmiths, University of London from 19-20 December 2016.
A scene from influential sci-fi film Metropolis (1927)
Within the fields of Human-Computer Interaction and Human-Robot Interaction, we have recently seen a strong upsurge of interest in the more personal aspects of human relationships with developing technology.
A growing interest in the subject is apparent among the general public, as evidenced by an increase in coverage in the print media, TV documentaries and feature films, but also within the academic community.
In September 2015 a short article titled ‘In Defence of Sex Robots’ by Goldsmiths computing lecturer Dr Kate Devlin was published by The Conversation and has gone on to reach more than half a million readers in several languages. It is one of the website’s all-time most popular essays.
Dr Devlin is organising the conference at Goldsmiths to bring together a community of academics, industry professionals and anyone else interested in sex robots, to present and discuss innovative new work and research.
Sessions are planned on humanoid robots, robot emotions and personalities, teledildonics, intelligent electronic sex hardware, entertainment robots and much more. Presentations will take a range of approaches, from the psychological to the sociological and philosophical.
Dr Devlin argues that gender stereotypes and sexual objectification have long been prevalent themes in existing research and popular representations of sex and robots, and this is a narrative that must be challenged.
“Our research aims to carve a new narrative, moving away from sex robots purely defined as machines used as sex objects, as substitutes for human partners, made by men, for men,” she explains.
A machine is a blank slate – it is what we make of it. Why should a sex robot be binary? What about the potential for therapy? It’s time for new approaches to artificial sexuality.
“Cutting edge research in technology and ethics is vital if we want to reframe ideas about the human-tech relationship.”
The International Congress on Love and Sex with Robots was previously banned in Malaysia.
Research presented at the Congress will be reviewed and compiled into a special issue of the journal Computer Science.
The conference will be chaired by Dr Kate Devlin, Professor Adrian Cheok (City, University of London) and Dr David Levy (Intelligent Toys Ltd).
A full line-up of speakers will be confirmed in October.
The new device is currently limited to imitating sweet or salty tastes, but could be developed to fool the tongue to such an extent that unappetising food becomes a juicy treat GETTY IMAGES
A device that tricks the tongue could one day turn the most unappetising healthy food into a delicious treat.
When placed in the mouth, the Taste Buddy emits thermal and electric signals that stimulate the taste buds.
The prototype is restricted to imitating sweet or salty tastes, but its inventors say it has the potential to change our diets by transforming bland tofu into juicy steak or conjuring up chocolate broccoli.
Adrian Cheok from City, University of London, who led the team of scientists and engineers that created the device, said: “What started out as a fun engineering experiment has… Continue reading
This could be the invention we have all been waiting for… a device that tricks the tongue and could be used to turn the most unappetising healthy food into your favourite treats, scientists say. This invention is certainly innovative for our times, perhaps you will be short of breath when you can try it, it is better to be prepared and have an inhaler at hand and not suffer major mishaps when this marvel is released on the market. For people that does not trust in this invention we have other option to enjoy food and it is by using weight loss pills that you can find on timeofisrael , you can eat whatever you want and at the same time use the pills and you wont worry of your weight. It is also important to notice that the use of this pills along with some exercise will be better for you, you will see better results.
Yes that’s right, broccoli and kale could taste like chocolate and ice cream.
The Taste Buddy emits thermal and electric signals that stimulate the taste buds when placed in the mouth.
While the early prototype is restricted to imitating sweet or salty tastes, future versions have the potential to completely alter our diets – for instance, by transforming bland tofu into juicy steak, or conjuring up chocolate broccoli, it is claimed. Basically #winning.
Professor Adrian Cheok, from City, University of London, who led the team of scientists and engineers that created the device said: “What started out as a fun engineering experiment has now led to something much more exciting with the potential to have a positive social impact. Weight loss pills can be a useful tool in achieving weight loss goals, but they should be combined with exercise and healthy eating for optimal results. By incorporating regular exercise into your routine, you increase calorie burn and improve overall fitness levels.
“The Taste Buddy could eventually help save lives, by allowing people to switch to healthier food choices.”
He added: “Many children hate the taste of vegetables. So I knew that when I became an engineer, I wanted to make a device that could allow children to eat vegetables that taste like chocolate.”
What if all our vegetables tasted of chocolate? (Gabe Hernandez/AP)
In its current early form the Taste Buddy consists of a 2cm wide tab that sits on the tongue and is wired to a bulky processor.
To enhance sweetness, the device warms up very rapidly and stimulates specific taste receptors that react to heat.
A weak electric current is used to target other taste buds responsible for salty flavours.
Members of the public will have a chance to try out the Taste Buddy for themselves at The Big Bang UK Young Scientists and Engineers Fair.
The event, aimed at young people interested in science, technology and engineering, takes place from March 15 to 18 at the National Exhibition Centre, Birmingham.
U četvrtak 1. septembra, na Tehničkom fakultetu ˝Mihajlo Pupin˝održano je predavanje na temu korišćenja interneta u budućnosti i inovacijama u njegovom korišćenju.
Na ovu temu, govorio je direktor i osnivač kompanije ˝Mixed Realty Lab˝ i profesor univerziteta iz Londona, Adrian David Cheok, jedan od prvih ljudi koji su među prvima počeli da koriste i istražuju ˝proširenu stvarnost˝.
Pored predavanja o proširenoj stvarnosti, Cheok je takođe pričao o svojim i inovacijama njegovih učenika, koje za cilj imaju bolju i ˝konkretniju“ upotrebu interneta.
U prepunom amfietatru u Zrenjaninu demontrirano je 5 inovacija u IT svetu, koje će zauvek promeniti internet :
1. UREĐAJ ZA PRENOŠENJE POLJUPCA
Ukoliko ste razdvojeni od voljene osobe, poljubac je stvar koju definitivno najviše želite. Uređaj pod nazivom ˝Kissenger˝ omogućio je da osetite poljubac voljene osobe bilo gde u svetu. Sve što treba da uradite jeste da naslonite svoje usne na senzore, a tehnika će dalje učiniti svoje.
Demontstracija uživo
2. ˝PIDŽAMA KOJA GRLI˝
Prsluk koji će vas zagrliti kada niko drugi nije pored vas da to uradi.
3. DIGITALNI UKUS HRANE
Ukoliko želite da probate ukus nečeg novog, potrebno je da stavite svoj jezik između senzora, i na jeziku ćete osetiti željeni ukus.
4. PRSTEN ZA POZDRAVLJANJE
Ukoliko ste udaljeni daleko od prijatelja, a jako biste voleli da ga pozdravite, ne morate mu slati poruke ili ga pozvati na telefon. Pošaljite mu pozdrav prstenom, koliko kog puta poželite.
5. DIGITALNO ŠTAMPANJE HRANE
Za sve one koji bi voleli da pripreme neku vrstu hrane, a za to nemaju vremena, osmišljen je uređaj koji će to uraditi umesto njih. Sve što treba da se uradi jeste da se putem pametnog telefona daju instrukcije, i digitalni ˝štampač˝će od sastojaka koje mu prethodno ostavite, napraviti vaš željeni obrok.
Profesor sa Tehničkog fakulteta Mihajlo Pupin, Branko Markoski koji je organizovao ovo predavanje istakao je značaj ovakvih događaja za grad Zrenjanin i dodao da će se potruditi da se inovacije u Zrenjaninu češće predstavljaju, sa osnovnim ciljem da se podstaknu mladi da i sami razvijaju proizvode i platforme za 21. vek.
Bland food could soon be a thing of the past after scientists invented a revolutionary new device which completely alters our sense of taste and may prove to be a breakthrough in the fight against obesity.
British scientists are on the verge of making broccoli taste like chocolate and tofu taste like steak.
Researchers at London’s City University have built a prototype for a device, called the Taste Buddy, which uses low-level electrical current to ‘trick’ your taste buds.
The prototype is limited to creating sweet or salty tastes, but its inventors hope it will be able to completely alter our diets by imitating any number of foods.
“What started out as a fun engineering experiment has now led to something much more exciting with the potential to have a positive social impact,” lead scientist Professor Adrian Cheok said.
“The Taste Buddy could eventually help save lives, by allowing people to switch to healthier food choices.
“Many children hate the taste of vegetables. So I knew that when I became an engineer, I wanted to make a device that could allow children to eat vegetables that taste like chocolate,” he added.
The device consists of a 2cm (0.8 inch) wide tab that sits on the tongue and is wired to a processor.
To enhance sweetness, the device warms up rapidly and stimulates specific taste receptors that react to heat.
A weak electric current is used to target other taste buds responsible for salty flavours.
The Taste Buddy will be showcased at The Big Bang UK Young Scientists & Engineers Fair in Birmingham next March, where members of the public will be able to try it for themselves.
13:45, 13 OCT 2016 UPDATED 13:46, 13 OCT 2016
BY JAMES RODGER
It is claimed the device will transform bland tofu into juicy steak – or conjure up chocolate broccoli
Getting your little ones to eat their greens can be one of the more difficult aspects of being a parent.
But, luckily, a new device will trick your child’s tongue and turn even the most unappetising “healthy” food into a delicious treat, according to its creators.
The Taste Buddy, which emits thermal and electric signals that stimulate the taste buds in the mouth, will head to the The Big Bang UK Young Scientists and Engineers Fair in Birmingham next year.
While the early prototype is restricted to imitating sweet or salty tastes, future versions have the potential to completely alter our diets, scientists say.
The device will even be able transform bland tofu into juicy steak – or conjure up chocolate broccoli – it is claimed.
The Big Bang UK Young Scientists and Engineers Fair, aimed at young people interested in science, technology and engineering, takes place from March 15 to 18 at the National Exhibition Centre, Birmingham.
Professor Adrian Cheok, from City, University of London, who led the team of scientists and engineers that created the device said: “What started out as a fun engineering experiment has now led to something much more exciting with the potential to have a positive social impact.
“The Taste Buddy could eventually help save lives, by allowing people to switch to healthier food choices.”
It is claimed the device will transform bland tofu into juicy steak – or conjure up chocolate broccoli
Can conkers keep spiders out of your house? What science says about the theory
He added: “Many children hate the taste of vegetables. So I knew that when I became an engineer, I wanted to make a device that could allow children to eat vegetables that taste like chocolate.”
In its current early form the Taste Buddy consists of a 2cm wide tab that sits on the tongue and is wired to a bulky processor.
To enhance sweetness, the device warms up very rapidly and stimulates specific taste receptors that react to heat.
A weak electric current is used to target other taste buds responsible for salty flavours.
Members of the public will have a chance to try out the Taste Buddy for themselves in Birmingham next March.
When trying to stick to a diet, the temptation of delicious sugary snacks can be too much to resist.
But there is good news for dieters trying to avoid these unhealthy foods.
A device called Taste Buddy has been designed, that tricks the tongue into tasting unappetising ‘healthy’ food as delicious treats.
Scroll down for video
Professor Adrian Cheok, from City University of London, who led the team that created the device said: ‘What started out as a fun engineering experiment has now led to something much more exciting with the potential to have a positive social impact’
WHAT IS THE TASTE BUDDY?
In its current early form the Taste Buddy consists of a 2 centimetre (0.8 inch) wide tab that sits on the tongue and is wired to a bulky processor.
Placed in the mouth, the Taste Buddy emits thermal and electric signals that stimulate the taste buds.
To enhance sweetness, the device warms up very rapidly and stimulates specific taste receptors that react to heat.
A weak electric current is used to target other taste buds responsible for salty flavours.
The prototype for the device has been designed by scientists from City University in London.
Placed in the mouth, the Taste Buddy emits thermal and electric signals that stimulate the taste buds.
While the early prototype is restricted to imitating sweet or salty tastes, future versions have the potential to completely alter our diets.
For instance, by transforming bland tofu into juicy steak, or conjuring up chocolate broccoli, it is claimed.
Professor Adrian Cheok, from City University of London, who led the team that created the device said: ‘What started out as a fun engineering experiment has now led to something much more exciting with the potential to have a positive social impact.
When trying to stick to a diet, the temptation of delicious sugary snacks can be too much to resist (stock image). But a device called Taste Buddy has been designed, that tricks the tongue into tasting unappetising ‘healthy’ food as delicious treats
IS THERE A SIXTH TASTE?
It has long been thought that there are four primary tastes – salty, sweet, sour and bitter, although a fifth taste, called Umami, was added as a fifth in 2009.
But researchers suggest that there may be a sixth taste missing from the list.
They say that complex carbohydrates, such as starch, have their own taste and should be considered an independent flavour.
‘The Taste Buddy could eventually help save lives, by allowing people to switch to healthier food choices.’
He added: ‘Many children hate the taste of vegetables. So I knew that when I became an engineer, I wanted to make a device that could allow children to eat vegetables that taste like chocolate.’
In its current early form the Taste Buddy consists of a two centimetre (0.8 inch) wide tab that sits on the tongue and is wired to a bulky processor.
To enhance sweetness, the device warms up very rapidly and stimulates specific taste receptors that react to heat.
In its current early form the Taste Buddy consists of a 2 centimetre (0.8 inch) wide tab that sits on the tongue and is wired to a bulky processor. To enhance sweetness, the device warms up very rapidly and stimulates specific taste receptors that react to heat
A weak electric current is used to target other taste buds responsible for salty flavours.
Members of the public will have a chance to try out the Taste Buddy for themselves at The Big Bang UK Young Scientists and Engineers Fair.
The event, aimed at young people interested in science, technology and engineering, takes place from March 15 to 18 at the National Exhibition Centre, Birmingham.
Of course someone decided to disrupt cutlery. Photo: Leisa Tyler/LightRocket via Getty Images
In the near future, humans will laugh about their poor ancestors who had no choice but to eat with basic, outdated cutlery that couldn’t manipulate the flavor of their food. That will be thanks to a group of scientists at the University of London, who are developing a device that makes low-sugar food taste sweeter or saltier, if for some reason you actually want your sautéed spinach to taste like birthday cake.
For at least one of the scientists, professor Adrian Cheok, this is a dream come true. He tellsThe Telegraph he got into engineering with just one noble goal: not to make kids like vegetables, but to allow them to still hate veggies and eat them anyway because technology can make them “taste like chocolate.”
Dubbed the Taste Buddy, the deceptive device will trick people, through a low-level electrical current that stimulates taste buds, into tasting flavors that aren’t actually present. The scientists’ hope for the device, which was revealed this week at England’s Big Bang U.K. Young Scientists & Engineers Fair, is to engineer it to fit within everyday utensils or beverage cans. Currently, the team is working on a prototype spoon, but if it all works out, there will be a whole line of microchip-like Bluetooth devices that allow users to “choose the levels of taste you’d like.”
Professor Adrian David Cheok was awarded the Distinguished Alumni Awards by University of Adelaide in recognition of his achievements and contribution in the field of Computing, Engineering and Multisensory communication. The Distinguished Alumni Awards recognise the outstanding contribution and significant impact made by alumni of the University.
Professor Adrian Cheok obtained a Bachelor of Engineering (Electrical and Electronic) with First Class Honours in 1994 and a PhD in Engineering in 1999. Professor Cheok is a pioneer in mixed reality and multisensory communication; his innovation and leadership has been recognised internationally through multiple awards.
Some of his pioneering works in mixed reality include innovative and interactive games such as ‘3dlive’, ‘Human Pacman’ and ‘Huggy Pajama’. Professor Cheok is also the inventor of the world’s first electric and thermal taste machine, which produces virtual tastes with electric current and thermal energy.
Past winners include The Honourable Julia Gillard MP, former Prime Minister of Australia,The Right Hon Chief Minister of Sarawak, YAB Pehin Sri Dr Haji Abdul Taib Mahmud AO, Professor Oliver Mayo, Mr Ong Teng Cheong, first elected President of Singapore, Dr Tony Tan Keng Yam, the current President of Singapore. A full list of past winners can be found here.
You can now send tastes, smells and even kisses virtually. A new age of virtual reality involving all five senses is here, with Adrian Cheok of the Imagineering Institute at its forefront.
Daniel Soo | August 1, 2016 | Editorials
AsianScientist (Aug. 1, 2016) – Once the stuff of science fiction, virtual reality (VR) technologies are becoming ever more present in our daily lives. From documentaries that bring you to the Great Barrier Reef, to games that let you soar through the air as an eagle, this technology looks set to change the world as we know it. As director of the Imagineering Institute, Malaysia, and founder and director of the Mixed Reality Lab, Singapore, engineer and inventor Dr. Adrian Cheok believes that the future of mixed reality—the integration of the virtual and physical world—belongs to smell, taste and touch. Cheok has played a key role in the innovation of various mixed reality devices and applications, some of which have already been released commercially. His Huggy Pajamas comforts anxious children by allowing them to receive virtual hugs sent from their parents. More intriguingly, his Scentee smart phone attachment allows one to send and receive various scents on command. Asian Scientist Magazine recently chatted with Cheok, who was in Singapore to deliver the keynote speech for the Singapore Science Festival’s Visual SG event, to find out what has been keeping him busy.
In your own words, what is mixed reality?
Mixed reality is the merging of our physical reality with virtual reality, which can be done at the level of all five senses. Science has shown that we communicate with all of our five senses. In fact, non-verbal communication is more than half of human communication, and that’s why it’s still very different to have a meeting with someone with a video call than to meet them in person. Something is missing when you just communicate with video or through the internet. I believe that in the future, we will be able to communicate with every one of our senses through the internet, and move from the age of information that we are in today to the age of experience.
What are some applications of mixed reality?
Telepresence will of course be a big example of how mixed reality can be applied. If we can transmit all five senses, telepresence would allow people to really feel like they are together. They could touch each other, or even share a dinner together, even though they may be on totally different sides of the world. Mixed reality devices can also create new kinds of communication. If you can digitally taste and smell, then you can have an app on your smartphone and virtually taste and smell a dish at a famous restaurant. Another big benefit is also of collaboration. For example, you could collaborate with one or many people, like cooking a dish together through the internet. Another application that mixed reality will lead to is new kinds of learning. For example, instead of reading a book or watching a movie about ancient Rome, you could feel what it’s like to be there and even taste and smell what it’s like to live in an ancient city. This would create a totally new kind of learning because we humans learn very much experientially.
What first drew you to work on virtual reality?
I first began by looking at augmented reality systems, which allow people to see virtual 3D objects in the physical world. I noticed that the first thing people did was to try to touch the objects. That’s when I realized that we have to extend augmented reality beyond the 3D graphics that we see on our video games and movies. We need to use touch, taste and smell to really create a sense of presence in the virtual world. That’s what I call experience communication: not just sharing information, but sharing your experience.
The Kissenger device attaches to your smartphone and allows you to send virtual kisses. Credit: Imagineering Institute
What are some of the limitations to engaging our five senses using virtual reality?
Right now, we are concentrating on making the technology that allows for the virtual communication of touch, taste and smell by digitizing these senses. It’s a very difficult problem. Fundamentally, sound and light are frequencies: they are wave-based, and can be transmitted into digital bits onto the internet. The fundamental problem with touch, taste and smell is that it’s a different kind of sense. For smell, we sense molecules, which triggers some electrical pulse to your brain. It’s still very much in the early stages of research but we have successfully been able to produce virtual taste, using electrical signals only and without any chemicals. We are now working on smell, which is an even more difficult problem. Unlike taste, where we only have five different taste receptors, most scientists estimate us having a few thousand different kinds of individual smell receptors. How do we stimulate those individual receptors? It’s going to be a very big problem, but so far we have gotten some success by using small electrodes on the inside of the nose to stimulate olfactory sense.
How do you think virtual reality technology will evolve in the next 20 years?
Technology is increasing at such an exponential rate that we can’t imagine exactly what the world will be like, but we can imagine that it’ll be incredibly different. I think that whatever that doesn’t break the laws of physics can be invented by humans. We can’t change the fact that we’re born with five different types of taste receptors, or that there’s a specific range of frequencies we can see and hear, but I believe that we can somehow alter our perceptions with technology. For example, the spectrum of light is much wider than what we can see. We can’t see infrared with our naked eyes but we can now visualize it with infrared glasses. In some way, we already live in our own virtual reality: an analog biological virtual reality, because we are just seeing the world we are naturally designed to see. We think that this is the reality but it’s not—that’s why it’ll be so much different when we have virtual reality, because we already don’t see a kind of ‘objective reality.’
Adrian Cheok, professor of pervasive computing at City University London and director of the Mixed Reality Lab at the National University of Singapore, is on a mission to transform cyberspace into a multi-sensory world. He wants to tear through the audiovisual paradigm of the internet by developing devices able to transmit smells, tastes, and tactile sensations over the web.
Lying on the desk in Cheok’s labis one of his inventions: a device that connects to a smartphone and shoots out a given person’s scent when they send you a message or post on your Facebook wall. Then there’s a plexiglass cubic box you can stick your tongue in to taste internet-delivered flavours. Finally, a small plastic and silicone gadget with a pressure sensor and a moveable peg in the middle. It’s a long-distance-kissing machine: You make out with it, and your tongue and lip movements travel over the internet to your partner’s identical device—and vice versa.
“It’s still a prototype but we’ll be able to tweak it and make it transmit a person’s odour, and create the feeling of human body temperature coming from it,” Cheok says, grinning as he points at the twin make-out machines. Just about the only thing Cheok’s device can’t do is ooze digital saliva.
I caught up with Cheok to find out more about his work toward a “multi-sensory internet.”
The make-out device, plugged into an iPhone
Motherboard: Can you tell us a bit more about what you’re doing here, and what this multi-sensory internet is all about?
There is a problem with the current internet technology. The problem is that, online, everything is audiovisual and behind a screen. Even when you interact with your touchscreen, you’re still touching a piece of glass. It’s like being behind a window all the time. Also, on the internet you can’t use all your senses—touch, smell and taste—like you do in the physical world.
Here we are working on new technologies that will allow people to use all their senses while communicating through the Internet. You’ve already seen the kissing machine, and the device that sends smell-messages to your smartphone. We’ve also created devices to hug people via the web: You squeeze a doll and somebody wearing a particular bodysuit feels your hug on their body.
What about tastes and smells? How complex are the scents you can convey through your devices?
We’re still at an early stage, so right now each device can just spray one simple aroma contained in a cartridge. But our long-term goal is acting directly on the brain to produce more elaborated perceptions.
We want to transmit smells without using any chemical, so what we’re going to do is use magnetic coils to stimulate the olfactory bulb [part of the brain associated with smell]. At first, our plan was to insert them through the skull, but unfortunately the olfactory part of the brain is at the bottom, and doing deep-brain stimulation is very difficult.
And having that stuff going on in your brain is quite dangerous, I suppose.
Not much—magnetic fields are very safe. Anyway, our present idea is to place the coils at the back of your mouth. There is a bone there called the palatine bone, which is very close to the region of your brain that makes you perceive smells and tastes. In that way we’ll be able to make you feel them just by means of magnetic actuation.
Cheok demonstrates the taste-transmitter
But why should we send smells and tastes to each other in first place?
For example, somebody may want to send you a sweet or a bitter message to tell you how they’re feeling. Smell and taste are strongly linked with emotions and memories, so a certain smell can affect your mood; that’s a totally new way of communicating. Another use is commercial. We are working with the fourth best restaurant in the world, in Spain, to make a device people can use to smell the menu through their phones.
Can you do the same thing also when it comes to tactile sensations? I mean, can you put something in my brain to make me feel hugged?
It is possible, and there are scientists in Japan who are trying to do that. But the problem with that is that, for the brain, the boundary between touch and pain is very thin. So, if you perform such stimulation you may very easily trigger pain.
It looks like you’re particularly interested in cuddling distant people. When I used to live in Rome, I once had a relationship with a girl living in Turin and it sucked because, well, you can’t make out online. Did you start your research because of a similar episode?
Well, I have always been away from my loved ones. I was born in Australia, but I moved to Japan when I was very young, and I have relatives living in Greece and Malaysia. So maybe my motivation has been my desire to feel closer to my family, rather than to a girl. But of course I know that the internet has globalized our personal networks, so more and more people have long-distance relationships. And, even if we have internet communications, the issue of physical presence is very relevant for distant lovers. That’s why we need to change the internet itself.
The scent device in action
So far you have worked on a long-distance-hugging device and a long-distance-kissing machine. We also have gadgets that can transmit a person’s body odour. If I connect the dots, the next step will be a device for long-distance sex.
Actually, I am currently doing some research about that. You see, the internet has produced a lot of lonely people, who only interact with each other online. Therefore, we need to create technologies that bring people physically—and sexually—together again. Then, there’s another aspect of the issue…
What’s that?
As you noticed, if you put all my devices together, what you’re going to have soon are sorts of “multi-sensory robots”. And I think that, within our lifetime, humans will be able to fall in love with robots and, yeah, even have sex with them.
It seems to me all the work you’re doing here may be very attractive for the internet pornography business.
Of course, one of the big industries that could be interested in our prototypes is the internet sex industry. And, frankly speaking, that being a way of bringing happiness, I think there’s nothing wrong with that. Sex is part of people’s lives. In addition, very often the sex industry has helped to spur technology.
But so far I haven’t been contacted by anybody from that sector. Apparently, there’s quite a big gap between people working in porn and academia.
Visitors can unwrap an Egyptian mummy virtually and even explore amulets buried with the body. Photo: Interspectral
In the third of a series of reports on the highlights of the Singapore Science Festival this year, we look how scientists are making it possible to create virtual worlds real enough to smell and taste.
SINGAPORE — See animals in a zoo that are so real, that you can smell them, when you are merely standing in a room with a video feed. Or send a kiss virtually, one that can be felt.
These are the “realities” Professor Adrian Cheok wants to create, in his mission to make communicating digitally more realistic — by making it possible to send touch, smells and tastes over the Internet.
Prof Cheok, who is from the Imagineering Institute, is among the scientists working in the field of simulation technology, to change the way people experience not just communications, but also science.
For example, children in Spain with certain diseases, who typically spend many hours in the hospital, can now “visit” the zoo virtually through a live 3D video feed, as part of an ongoing study by the Malaysia-based Institute and the University of Valencia to see if virtual zoos have a positive effect on the children.
Unlike sound and light, which are frequency-based and can be sent digitally, taste and smell are chemical-based, so the challenge is in using electrical signals to stimulate these senses, said Prof Cheok, who is working on a device that sends kisses virtually — with the help of a silicon device attached to a mobile phone — and another which artificially produces taste sensations.
Taste and smell are the “most difficult senses” to digitise, said Prof Cheok, and he is working on a project that has electrodes implanted inside the nose to stimulate olfactory receptor neurons to produce a smell.
Another device connects to the tongue to change its temperature, producing a sweet taste through thermal energy.
“In the future it may not be silver electrodes, it could be cutlery which has electrical signals … (with) a tiny wireless electrode in your nose connected to your smartphone,” he said.
Currently, simulation technology in the market is focused on augmented reality, and more widely seen in advertising and entertainment, he said. But researchers focus on inventing new technology and then work with businesses to figure out how it can be made into useful commercial products.
Simulation technology can recreate novel experiences without causing harm, such as allowing people to “unwrap” a mummy — via a visualisation table at the Science Centre Singapore.
Created using X-rays, laser scans and photos of a real mummy, Neswaiu, a wealthy Egyptian priest who lived in the third century BC, visitors can zoom in on the touchscreen to examine Neswaiu’s sarcophagus, and then peel off layers of the body on a touchscreen to study the anatomy, internal organs and even the amulets buried together with him.
The technology behind the Mummy Explorer was originally created for visual medical images so doctors could perform virtual autopsies, but the team “quickly realised there were wider opportunities for the use of the technology”, said Prof Anders Ynnerman, the scientist behind the technology.
The explorer “is a very nice way of being able to engage people … (and let) the general public have a feeling for what scientists are doing and what the scientific exploration process is like”, since they can actively participate and freely explore the mummies themselves.
The first interactive touch table was completed in 2009, and has been used in other museums, like the British Museum and the Museum of Mediterranean and Near Eastern Antiquities in Stockholm.
Prof Ynnerman said the British Museum was initially worried that the dazzle of a digital artefact would leave the real mummy in the cold. But they found that people spent thrice the amount of time at the exhibit, looking at the mummy, his digital counterpart, and then at the mummy again to study it closely.
He hopes that with such interactive visualisations can shorten the distance between scientific research and the general public, so that through exploring, they can feel “part of the scientific discovery”.
