[HN Gopher] Norimaki Synthesizer: Taste Display Using Ion Electr...
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       Norimaki Synthesizer: Taste Display Using Ion Electrophoresis in
       Five Gels
        
       Author : homarp
       Score  : 49 points
       Date   : 2020-06-01 19:34 UTC (3 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (research.miyashita.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (research.miyashita.com)
        
       | rladd wrote:
       | This works on "tastes" at the lowest level definition of "taste",
       | in other words tongue sensations. But what we think of as "taste"
       | is actually a combination of this and of smell or aroma.
       | 
       | Smell is much more complex and relies on detection of the shape
       | of the particles by the olfactory receptors (see:
       | http://cst.ufl.edu/taste-vs-flavor-whats-the-difference.html).
       | 
       | It could be possible to simulate different aromas with a fairly
       | small number of scent molecules, and there has been some work in
       | that direction (see:
       | https://www.researchgate.net/publication/227512326_Aroma_sim...),
       | but no successful commercial product has ever been launched (that
       | I'm aware of) based on this technologly.
       | 
       | So while interesting, this 'taste synthesizer' and anything like
       | it is not going to enable anyone to taste anything that really
       | tastes like a food.
        
         | 01100011 wrote:
         | You could have a bank of carboxylic acids and various alcohols
         | and perform
         | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fischer%E2%80%93Speier_esterif...
         | on the fly perhaps... You can make a good number of scents that
         | way.
        
         | dogma1138 wrote:
         | Isn't John Carmack working on smell for VR?
         | 
         | That said I wonder what would come first these external stimuli
         | emulator or a neural link, by passing the external sensor seems
         | to be the most straightforward way even if it's much more
         | complex on paper.
        
           | cjhveal wrote:
           | It's my guess that early brain-machine interface is going to
           | require a fair amount of training and conditioning to
           | interpret information across the interface. I think
           | attempting to locate, isolate, and stimulate specific nerves
           | that carry these sensation is going to be way more difficult
           | than just exciting the receptors at the ends of those nerves.
           | I'd anticipate "displays" emulating external stimuli
           | preceding brain-machine interfaces.
        
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       (page generated 2020-06-01 23:00 UTC)