If it reckon like lemonade and it tastes like lemonade , is it lemonade ? Scientists in Singapore have carry off to fox the senses into thinking so , with just a meth of water , some light-emitting diode lights , and an electric pulse rate .
The team at the National University of Singapore have ambitious plans to allow citizenry to well-nigh portion out drinks through the net and to sample those beautiful Instagramed cocktail you see on a regular basis by providing a receptive experience at plate .
“ People are always posting pictures of drinks on social sensitive – what if you could upload the predilection as well ? That ’s the ultimate goal , ” Nimesha Ranasinghe , a member of the research team , toldNew Scientist .
The researchers present their experimentation at the Conference on Tangible , Embedded and Embodied Interaction , held in Japan this month . They excuse how they used a digital roller fill with weewee that had an electrode run around the rim of the field glass . When drinker touched it with their clapper , it delivered an electric pulse that stimulated their gustatory perception bud , mimicking a dark taste .
To get the look of lemonade , they used an RGB coloring material sensor to get the right coloring material and used LED light to mime it , producing “ lemonade ” in three color – yellow , green , and cloudy lily-white .
To test the achiever of their virtual drink , they had 13 volunteers blind taste a multifariousness of practical and material glasses of lemonade . They were asked to rate how sour the drink was based on how it looked and then how it savour .
They found that most people reported the real lemonade tasted sourer , but the LED - lit lemonade looked more dour . So the virtual drink is not complete yet , but is pretty successful so far . Lemonade is also a relatively simple drink to simulate compared to other more complex cocktails .
Ranasinghe and his team have big plans for expanding their experiment . Already working on an“electric lollipop ” , they are planning to abuse up the digital crapulence by adding other functions , like olfactory property .
“ We ’re mold on a full practical cocktail with smell , taste , and color all cover , ” he said . " We want to be able to create any boozing . "
He also suggested there could be more far - reaching repercussion than just bask a practical drink with your online buddies . It could act as an alternative , or even better , a replacement for sugary drinks for those who want a fix without the gram calorie or high scratch count .
[ H / T : New Scientist ]
