Researchers in Finland are exploring the role of AI-based extended reality (XR) in making vegetarian food more appealing, potentially driving the uptake of plant-based and more sustainable diets. 

XR is an umbrella term for all immersive technologies, including augmented reality, virtual reality, and mixed reality. The project sought to enable consumers to try new food items and feel satiated afterward.

The researchers used XR to add a pleasant fragrance to the meal using a simple olfactory display. One experiment, for example, showed how introducing meat flavors to plant-based “meatballs” changed the consumer experience.

“We aimed to provide augmented eating experiences wher the food will be experienced differently from its natural features. The research on sensory augmentations was combined with developing new food materials,” professor Roope Raisamo, head of the Tampere Unit for Computer-Human Interaction (TAUCHI) at the University of Tampere, tells Food Ingredients First.

“An example would be to use seaweed-based products made to have a pleasant mouthfeel and taste better.”

Raisamo notes that sound augmentations have been extensively studied in previous uses of XR or multisensory tech in food experiences. But the team’s “novel multisensory experiences involve several types of augmented touch sensations and odors, together with visual augmentations provided through a high-quality mixed reality headset,” setting it apart.

The project was funded by the Research Council of Finland and led by Raisamo and research professor Nesli Sözer at VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland.

Research to real world

Scientists worldwide are leveraging AI to enhance food-related processes, from enhancing food safety to improving flavor or taste perception.

The RCF notes that the research team has been using AI “long before it became the phenomenon it is now,” focusing on multisensory interaction.

Raisamo adds that XR can be realistically scaled in retail environments, foodservice, or marketing campaigns within a medium-term timescale. However, despite advancements in visual augmentations, the market is “still missing” light-weight mixed reality glasses that could be worn as seamlessly as a pair of sunglasses.

“Often, the current research prototypes are large and blocky. Consumers are likely to become interested in new possibilities when the devices are not very different from the appliances they use today, such as eyeglasses or headphones,” he continues.

“Audio is already supported through products such as Ray-Ban meta glasses. once similar products include mixed-reality displays, support is provided for both sight and hearing.”

According to Raisamo, haptic technologies, which simulate sensory interactions related to touch, are emerging and proliferating in different products. However, he predicts that it will take the longest to augment odor.

“These systems typically require chemical substances and are not easy to miniaturize. However, the development of olfaction technologies is also quickly proceeding. The hardest sense to stimulate is taste, especially in the case of eating, when the mouth cannot be filled with any apparatus. Also, in our project, we left augmented taste for future research, other than how taste perception can be affected by augmenting the smell.”

XR for food therapy and healthy eating

once consumers can experience such augmentations widely, XR can be used to drive behavior change, notes Raisamo.

“Initially, I could foresee this technology being utilized in food therapy, wher the systems used may not need to be fully finalized and miniaturized consumer devices.”

While the project created meat-like sensations within its current scope, Raisamo is confident that the technology could elevate lesser-known or culturally specific plant-based ingredients to broader appeal by providing a common research platform for multisensory food augmentations.

“In the future, the olfactory and haptic sensations introduced by extended reality can be used in marketing and communication, for example. They’re not yet widely available, but it will be quite possible to add modules that produce scents and haptic sensations to users’ devices sometime from now,” notes Raisamo.

“This could be one way of facilitating more ecologically diverse food production and, simultaneously, encouraging people to eat healthier,” he concludes.