Scientists Develop 'E-Tongue' That Lets You Taste Cake in Virtual Reality

Imagine scrolling a menu, putting your cursor on a dish, and then tasting it right away—all without having to pay a thing. No more feeling the need for dessert without consuming the calories, or regretting a costly dinner that wasn't quite perfect. Does that sound futuristic? By developing an electronic tongue that can digitally mimic tastes, scientists are making this dream come true. This innovative technology advances our understanding of flavor before we even taste it, bringing us one step closer to a future in which food tasting occurs virtually.

An electronic tongue that can replicate flavours like cake and fish soup could help recreate food in virtual reality, but can't yet simulate other things that influence taste, such as smell. Researchers at Ohio State University, led by Assistant Professor Jinghua Li, have developed an innovative device called 'e-Taste' that enables users to experience flavors without consuming actual food. This advancement holds potential to transform virtual reality (VR) experiences by incorporating the sense of taste, thereby enhancing immersion.

How e-Taste Works

The e-Taste system comprises two components:

Sensing Platform: This "electronic tongue" measures the amounts of certain molecules linked to taste in food and drink. The five fundamental flavors are represented by the major chemicals: Sweetness comes from glucose, sourness from citric acid, saltiness from sodium chloride, bitterness from magnesium chloride, and umami flavor from glutamate.

Actuator: By using tiny electromagnetic pumps to administer precisely measured volumes of flavored hydrogels through a tiny tube positioned beneath the user's tongue, this component replicates the observed taste after receiving data from the sensor platform.

The e-Taste device uses sensors to detect the chemicals in food, and then uses a pump to deliver flavored hydrogels under the tongue. By doing this, you can experience flavor without really eating anything. ^[1]

Experimental Validation

Through a series of evaluations, the e-Taste device showcased its proficiency in emulating both simple and complex flavors:

• Simple Flavors: A group of ten participants evaluated the system's performance in reproducing different levels of sourness. The findings indicated a 70% accuracy rate in aligning the artificial taste with the authentic one.

• Complex Flavors: Six participants were tasked with identifying flavors that resembled lemonade, cake, fried egg, fish soup, and coffee. They achieved a success rate of approximately 87% in recognizing these flavors. ^[2]

Alan Chalmers from the University of Warwick warns that taste encompasses more than mere flavor. Various sensory elements, including aroma and color, significantly influence our perception of food. While e-taste can assess the intensity of flavors such as sweetness and sourness, it does not entirely mimic the way the human tongue perceives taste.^[2]

Potential Applications and Future Approaches

There are several opportunities to incorporate taste into virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) systems:

Immersion gaming: By allowing players to taste food and beverages in-game, enhancing realism.

Remote Culinary Experiences: Without ever leaving their homes, users may try food from all around the world.

Medical Applications: By mimicking tastes, the technology may help those with taste abnormalities.

A significant breakthrough in the integration of taste into digital encounters has been made with the creation of e-Taste. Potential uses are becoming more and more exciting as scientists work to reduce the system's size and increase its compatibility with a wider variety of chemical components. This invention has the potential to completely change how we view and engage with food in the digital world, from improving virtual reality experiences to transforming cuisine, education, and healthcare. e-Taste open the door to a future in which taste is not restricted to the physical world but may be explored in the boundless potential of the virtual world by bridging the gap between virtual and physical sensory experiences. ^[3]

References:

1. Ullah, Asif, Yifan Liu, You Wang, Han Gao, Hengyang Wang, Jin Zhang, and Guang Li. 2022. “E-Taste: Taste Sensations and Flavors Based on Tongue’s Electrical and Thermal Stimulation.” Sensors 22 (13): 4976. https://doi.org/10.3390/s22134976.

2. Chen, Shulin, Yizhen Jia, Bowen Duan, Tzu-Li Liu, Qi Wang, Xiao Xiao, Prasad Nithianandam, et al. 2025. “A Sensor-Actuator–Coupled Gustatory Interface Chemically Connecting Virtual and Real Environments for Remote Tasting.” Science Advances 11 (9). https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.adr4797.

3. Davis, Nicola. 2025. “Scientists Create ‘E-Taste’ Device That Could Add Flavour to Virtual Reality Experiences.” The Guardian. The Guardian. February 28, 2025.

4. Lee, Gayoung. 2025. “Virtual Reality Remote Tasting Might Be Coming Soon.” Scientific American. February 28, 2025. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/virtual-reality-remote-tasting-might-be-coming-soon/.

‌(Input from various sources)

(Rehash/Sampath Priya Baandhavi/MSM)