It was only
last month that two researchers from the National University of Singapore
presented a smart little device at ACM User Interface Software and Technology
Symposium in Tokyo. This little box was packed with a food revolution of its
own - it was packed with a battery that powered electrodes that, in turn,
could stimulate taste receptors.
This means,
you can now taste that chocolate cake you've been secretly googling ;)
The device,
a prototype at this stage, has a 9V battery plugged into a circuit stacked with
four different elements that trigger temperature changes of 5°C when applied to
the tip of the tongue. This change in temperature creates a sweet taste. The credit for the invention of this device goes to scientists Nimesha Ranasinghe and Ellen Yi-Luen Do from the National University
of Singapore who fiddled with thermal stimulation, seeing food online is not so virtual a reality
anymore.
The
electrodes when placed on the jaw, stimulate jaw muscles that help us chew
food. It was found that food felt tougher when high frequency pulses were
triggered, and it, alternatively, felt more elastic in texture with longer
pulses.
The idea
behind its creation is pretty noble too - to help those with health conditions,
even those on a diet.
"We
believe this will be especially helpful for the people on restricted diets for
example salt (hypertension and heart problems) and sugar (diabetics)," Dr
Ranashinghe told MailOnline in an interview.
