New Delhi: A professor in Japan has developed a prototype lickable TV screen that can mimic food flavours.
Called ‘Taste the TV (TTTV)’, the device comes with a carousel of 10 flavour canisters for creation of the taste of a particular food, Reuters reported.
The flavours from the canisters are sprayed in combination to create the taste, and the sample then rolls on to a hygienic film over a flat TV screen that the viewer can lick.
The innovation is being seen as another step towards a multi-sensory viewing experience.
Quoting Meiji University professor Homei Miyashita, the report said this kind of technology could enhance the way people connect with the outside world in the Covid-19 era.
"The goal is to make it possible for people to have the experience of something like eating at a restaurant on the other side of the world, even while staying at home," he was quoted as saying.
Miyashita has a team of 30-odd students who have been working on flavour-related devices. They have already produced a fork that makes food taste richer, the report said.
Miyashita, however, said he built the TTTV prototype himself over the past year, adding that a commercial version of it would cost around $875 to make.
According to the report, he has been in talks with companies that can use his spray technology for devices like one that can apply a chocolate or pizza taste to a slice of bread.
Miyashita’s food vision includes creation of a platform where users can download tastes from all over the world, much like how music is enjoyed now.
Demonstrating TTTV for reporters, a Meiji student said she wanted the screen to taste sweet chocolate. An automated voice repeated the order, and flavour jets sprayed a sample onto a plastic sheet.
"It's kind of like milk chocolate," she was quoted as saying.