This Lickable Screen Can Recreate Almost Any Taste or Flavor Without Eating Food
[PhilNote: I could definitely see this being sold like printer ink cartridges in a few years.]
The Norimaki Synthesizer takes a more aggressive approach through the use of five gels that trigger the five different tastes when they make contact with the human tongue.
The color-coded gels, made from agar formed in the shape of long tubes, use glycine to create the taste of sweet, citric acid for acidic, sodium chloride for salty, magnesium chloride for bitter, and glutamic sodium for savory umami. When the device is pressed against the tongue, the user experiences all five tastes at the same time, but specific flavors are created by mixing those tastes in specific amounts and intensities, like the RGB pixels on a screen. To accomplish this, the prototype is wrapped in copper foil so that when it’s held in hand and touched to the surface of the tongue, it forms an electrical circuit through the human body, facilitating a technique known as electrophoresis.
In testing, the Norimaki Synthesizer has allowed users to experience the flavor of everything from gummy candy to sushi without having to place a single item of food in their mouths.
In its current form the prototype is a bit bulky, but it could be easily miniaturized to a device as compact as the vapes everyone is already carrying around and regularly using.
See the full story here: https://gizmodo.com/this-lickable-screen-can-recreate-almost-any-taste-or-f-1843609903?fbclid=IwAR2N4V8Ho7J3dvK2kOr8TZJOVAg4zvaZA4fe5zdRTl2QUX_YkcCtjt9OHqs