London: Researchers have created a digital lollipop, which is capable of creating different taste sensations through virtual reality.
The electronic device is placed on the tongue and works by tricking the brain into thinking that you are tasting food by stimulating four main taste group-, sweet, sour and bitter- with electric currents.
According to engineer Nimesha Ranasinghe, who led the research at the National University of Singapore, the technology could one day be implemented in homes to allow viewers to taste the food made on cookery programmes.
The researcher told the publication that they have found non-invasive electrical and thermal stimulation of the tip of the tongue successfully generates the primary taste sensations.
Ranasinghe explained on his online portfolio that the system is capable of manipulating the properties of electric currents (magnitude, frequency, and polarity: inverse current) to formulate different stimuli.
