Virtual Cake? This E-Tongue Says Yes

Forget smell-o-vision, scientists just built a digital tongue that lets you taste food in virtual reality. But before you dream of VR Michelin-starred meals, know this: it can’t replicate smell, texture, or the regret of eating too much cake.

Researchers at Ohio State University have developed e-Taste, an electronic tongue that recreates basic flavors—sweet, salty, sour, bitter, and umami, using hydrogel-infused chemicals delivered under the tongue.

The system analyzes real food, digitizes taste profiles, and transmits them to a VR-compatible pump that recreates the flavor. Initial tests show 80% accuracy in distinguishing foods like lemonade, cake, and fish soup, but smell and texture remain missing pieces.

This is the first step toward fully immersive VR dining, but without smell and texture, is it really tasting? Would you try a digital meal, or does food require all five senses?

Read the full article on New Scientist.

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