A Norimaki Synthesizer has been created and can recreate any taste without the user having to ingest anything. That means that if you’re craving something you can just use one of these to taste it and don’t have to worry about those pesky calories. Or at least that’s what I would use if for. Think of the possibilities! You want cake? Taste it! And still be good on your diet.
It’s based on the idea that you have when you use the three basic colors, yellow, red, and blue. With those three colors you can create any color of the rainbow. Now with this Taste Display they have applied the same idea to taste. Using Salty, Acidic, Bitter, Umami, and Sweet as the base points for any flavor combination. The invention uses ion electrophoresis in five gels containing electrolytes that supply controlled amounts of each of the five basic tastes to apply an arbitrary taste to the user’s tongue.
When applied to the tongue with no voltage, the user can taste all five tastes. However, when an electric potential is applied, the cations in the gel move to the cathode side and away from the tongue, so that the flavor is tasted weakly. In this way, we have developed a taste display that reproduces an arbitrary taste by individually suppressing the sensation of each of the five basic tastes (like subtractive synthesis.)
Miyashita Laboratory
It’s the first invention of its kind that does not require the ingestion of a substance to deliver the tastes. If developed this could be a great tool for dieters that are having a hard time not eating their favorite foods.
