Homei Miyashita, a professor at Japan’s Meiji University, has created a debatably wonderful device called “Taste The TV” that lets users lick the screen and actually taste whatever food item is being shown on it. Miyashita is no stranger to the world of strange gadgets, and his home country is a whole universe of weird products as well. Last year, Miyashita showcased the awe-inspiringly named Norimaki Synthesizer, a handheld display that is capable of recreating any flavor by mixing a bunch of chemicals.

The device has five color-coded gels, with each one representing five base taste sensations — sweet, acidic, salty, bitter, and umami. During the tests, the gizmo allowed users to taste everything from fine sushi to gummy bears by mixing the chemicals in a very specific portion. Why anyone would want to lick a bunch of gels mounted atop a bundle of wires is anyone’s guess, but curiosity drives people to make weird decisions. After all, there are people in this world who buy a cleaning cloth for $19 just because it has a certain very rich company’s logo on it.

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Miyashita doesn’t belong to a trillion-dollar corporation, but he’s very much focused on his craft. The professor’s latest oddball invention is called Taste The TV (TTTV). As the name suggests, it lets users lick the screen and get a taste of what they’re seeing on it. The device sounds very much like a dream for folks watching MasterChef Australia and salivating profusely at the sight of a delicacy whipped up by one outrageously talented chef. The TTTV relies on an array of 10 canisters brimming with flavoring liquids that are sprayed in a calculated combination to recreate the taste of real food. "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," Miyashita was quoted as saying by Reuters.

Made For Metaverse

TTTV

For folks wondering how they can get their hands on this godsend machine ASAP, it's just an $875 paycheck away. That’s the cost Miyashita estimates for a commercial version of his prototype. He envisions it to be a learning portal for culinary students, and for a regular Homo sapiens specimen looking to engage in some food-related quiz game. Whether someone would want to play such a game of lick-the-screen with a bunch of other people is a debate for another day. But Miyashita appears to have a few more controversially creative ideas in his mind. The professor is in touch with a few capitalist entities to license his technology for some very disturbing use cases. For example, spraying a concoction of chemicals to make a bread taste like pizza or chocolate.

In a world that wants to go to war over the presence of pineapple on pizza and where TikTok culinary monstrosities give nightmares to Michelin star chefs, Miyashita’s idea sure sounds contentious. However, a very small bunch of people floating in space will be in a gleeful mood after hearing about the TTTV. Although astronauts are already growing a few veggies in space and even having taco parties on the International Space Station, they don’t exactly have many options up there. Spraying some chemical hotdog on a lump of boiled potatoes will surely make their day. The Metaverse could surely use this one to enhance the whole immersive experience. For the germaphobes alarmed by the hygiene aspect of Miyashita’s creation, it’s not that bad. The chemical mixture is sprayed on a plastic film, which then slides over the display after users have uttered their wish to taste a certain food item. Once the tasting is done and the taster is left bewildered by the human mind's sheer ingenuity and overwhelming food euphoria, the plastic film is discarded a fresh one is readied for the next curious soul in line.

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Source: Reuters