3rd International Workshop on Multisensory Approaches to Human-Food Interaction

This is the introduction paper to the third version of the workshop on 'Multisensory Approaches to Human-Food Interaction' organized at the 20th ACM International Conference on Multimodal Interaction in Boulder, Colorado, on October 16th, 2018. This workshop is a space where the fast growing research on Multisensory Human-Food Interaction is presented. Here we summarize the workshop's key objectives and contributions

LeviSense: a platform for the multisensory integration in levitating food and insights into its effect on flavour perception

Eating is one of the most multisensory experiences in everyday life. All of our five senses (i.e. taste, smell, vision, hearing and touch) are involved, even if we are not aware of it. However, while multisensory integration has been well studied in psychology, there is not a single platform for testing systematically the effects of different stimuli. This lack of platform results in unresolved design challenges for the design of taste-based immersive experiences. Here, we present LeviSense: the first system designed for multisensory integration in gustatory experiences based on levitated food. Our system enables the systematic exploration of different sensory effects on eating experiences. It also opens up new opportunities for other professionals (e.g., molecular gastronomy chefs) looking for innovative taste-delivery platforms. We describe the design process behind LeviSense and conduct two experiments to test a subset of the crossmodal combinations (i.e., taste and vision, taste and smell). Our results show how different lighting and smell conditions affect the perceived taste intensity, pleasantness, and satisfaction. We discuss how LeviSense creates a new technical, creative, and expressive possibilities in a series of emerging design spaces within Human-Food Interaction

Multisensory Approaches to Human-Food Interaction

Here, we present the outcome of the 4th workshop on Multisensory Approaches to Human-Food Interaction (MHFI), developed in collaboration with ICMI 2020 in Utrecht, The Netherlands. Capitalizing on the increasing interest on multisensory aspects of human-food interaction and the unique contribution that our community offers, we developed a space to discuss ideas ranging from mechanisms of multisensory food perception, through multisensory technologies, to new applications of systems in the context of MHFI. All in all, the workshop involved 11 contributions, which will hopefully further help shape the basis of a field of inquiry that grows as we see progress in our understanding of the senses and the development of new technologies in the context of food

Multisensory Experiences: A Primer

We present a primer on multisensory experiences, the different components of this concept, as well as a reflection of its implications for individuals and society. We define multisensory experiences, illustrate how to understand them, elaborate on the role of technology in such experiences, and present the three laws of multisensory experiences, which can guide discussion on their implications. Further, we introduce the case of multisensory experiences in the context of eating and human-food interaction to illustrate how its components operationalize. We expect that this article provides a first point of contact for those interested in multisensory experiences, as well as multisensory experiences in the context of human-food interaction.</jats:p

The Future of Human-Food Interaction

There is an increasing interest in food within the HCI discipline, with many interactive prototypes emerging that augment, extend and challenge the various ways people engage with food, ranging from growing plants, cooking ingredients, serving dishes and eating together. Grounding theory is also emerging that in particular draws from embodied interactions, highlighting the need to consider not only instrumental, but also experiential factors specific to human-food interactions. Considering this, we are provided with an opportunity to extend human-food interactions through knowledge gained from designing novel systems emerging through technical advances. This workshop aims to explore the possibility of bringing practitioners, researchers and theorists together to discuss the future of human-food interaction with a particular highlight on the design of experiential aspects of human-food interactions beyond the instrumental. This workshop extends prior community building efforts in this area and hence explicitly invites submissions concerning the empirically-informed knowledge of how technologies can enrich eating experiences. In doing so, people will benefit not only from new technologies around food, but also incorporate the many rich benefits that are associated with eating, especially when eating with others

Digitizing the chemical senses: possibilities & pitfalls

Many people are understandably excited by the suggestion that the chemical senses can be digitized; be it to deliver ambient fragrances (e.g., in virtual reality or health-related applications), or else to transmit flavour experiences via the internet. However, to date, progress in this area has been surprisingly slow. Furthermore, the majority of the attempts at successful commercialization have failed, often in the face of consumer ambivalence over the perceived benefits/utility. In this review, with the focus squarely on the domain of Human-Computer Interaction (HCI), we summarize the state-of-the-art in the area. We highlight the key possibilities and pitfalls as far as stimulating the so-called ‘lower’ senses of taste, smell, and the trigeminal system are concerned. Ultimately, we suggest that mixed reality solutions are currently the most plausible as far as delivering (or rather modulating) flavour experiences digitally is concerned. The key problems with digital fragrance delivery are related to attention and attribution. People often fail to detect fragrances when they are concentrating on something else; And even when they detect that their chemical senses have been stimulated, there is always a danger that they attribute their experience (e.g., pleasure) to one of the other senses – this is what we call ‘the fundamental attribution error’. We conclude with an outlook on digitizing the chemical senses and summarize a set of open-ended questions that the HCI community has to address in future explorations of smell and taste as interaction modalities

Digitally enhancing tasting experiences

Our experience of food and drink depends on more than merely the ingredients that have been combined in a dish or drink and the way in which it has been prepared. There is growing interest in the question of whether digital technologies/solutions can be used to enhance consumers’ multisensory tasting experiences. Projection mapping and sonic seasoning have been incorporated onto the menu in a number of world-leading restaurants for several years now. However, there has, as yet, been relatively little uptake of such digital technologies in the home environment. And while a wide (and growing) range of food and beverage brands have come out with sensory apps and sonic seasoning playlists in recent years, they do not tend to be present in the marketplace for very long. In fact, it would appear that the majority of augmented and virtual reality solutions have more relevance to the world of consumer/food science research than necessarily to enhancing the tasting experience for those in the home environment. Looking to the future, the widespread societal uptake of digitally-enhanced tasting experiences will likely only occur when such solutions provide an obvious, and demonstrable, benefit to the intended users

Reflection on the design of food systems and experiences for sustainable transformations

The importance of food and technology in modern society is undeniable. Technological advances have revolutionized how we produce, distribute and prepare food beyond local boundaries, and even how we eat. Eating is one of the most multisensory experiences in everyday life. All of our five senses (i.e. taste, smell, vision, hearing and touch) are involved. We first eat with our eyes, we can smell the food before we taste it, and then experience its textures and flavours in our mouth. However, the experience does not stop there. The sounds that come both from the environment in which we are immersed in while eating and our interactions with the food (e.g. chewing) and utensils we use to eat further influence our eating experiences. In all that, digital technology plays an increasingly important role, especially using emerging immersive technologies such as virtual and augmented reality (VR/AR). Designing at the intersection between technology and food requires multi-stakeholder commitments and a human experience-centred approach. Furthermore, it is essential to look beyond disciplinary boundaries and account for insights on various levels including the perceptual effects, experiential layers and technological advancements