Taste/IP: The sensation of taste for digital communication

Abstract

In this paper, we present a new methodology for integrating the sense of taste with the existing digital communication domain. First, we discuss existing problems and limitations for integrating the sense of taste as a digital communication media. Then, to assess this gap, we present a solution with three core modules: the transmitter, form of communication, and receiver. The transmitter is a mobile application, where the sender formulates a taste message to send. Then, for communication, we present a new extensible markup language (XML) format, the TasteXML (TXML) to specify the format of taste messages. As the receiver (actuator), we introduce Digital Taste Stimulator, a novel method for stimulating taste sensations on human. Initial user experiments and qualitative feedbacks were discussed mainly focusing on the Digital Taste Stimulator. We conclude with a brief overview of future aspects of this technology and possibilities on other application domains. Copyright 2012 ACM.