Ever wanted a leafy green salad that tastes like a cheesy pizza? Or how about broccoli or kale that tastes like chocolate or ice cream? That would be one way to get your daily serve of greens.
This invention comes straight out of a 1980’s movie – meet Taste Buddy, an invention that emits thermal and electric signals that stimulate the taste buds when put in your mouth. Ultimately, a device that tricks your tongue and can be used to turn unappetising, boring, super healthy food into tasting like your favourite sweets.
The early prototype so far is only limited to imitating sweet or salty tastes – which in my book goes a long way – future versions however have the potential to alter our diets completely. Something that could make a significant impact on health worldwide.
Professor Adrian Cheok from City University of London:
“What started out as a fun engineering experiment has now led to something much more exciting with the potential to have a positive social impact. The Taste Buddy could eventually help save lives, by allowing people to switch to healthier food choices.”
He goes on to elaborate more on the benefits for kids:
“Many children hate the taste of vegetables. So I knew that when I became an engineer, I wanted to make a device that could allow children to eat vegetables that taste like chocolate.”
In it’s early prototype form, the Taste Buddy is a 2cm wired tab that sits on your tongue while wired to a bulky processor.
To change flavour, for example to enhance the taste of sweetness, the Taste Buddy warmr up rapidly, stimulating specific taste receptors that react to heat. A weak electric current is used to target taste buds responsible for salty flavours.
Members of the public will have a chance to try out the Taste Buddy for themselves at The Big Bang UK Young Scientists and Engineers Fair, held in Birmingham in March.
Seriously cool.
