Does the Gel Biter create an illusion of food texture perception due to differences in mastication speed ?

Abstract

One of the new computational frameworks is physical reservoir computing. Focusing on this method, we have previously developed a soft-matter artificial mouth ”Gel Biter”, which is composed of multiple polymeric materials based on the structure of the human oral cavity. This soft machine can discriminate even subtle differences in food texture with high accuracy. In general, chewing speed differs from person to person. Then, we focus on the result that brittle foods tend to be chewed faster or more finely based on sensory evaluation in some cognitive studies. This study has analyzed the accuracy of the Gel Biter by changing the parameters of its robotic arm and the differences in food texture perceived when the chewing speed is changed. As a result, there is no significant difference in discrimination accuracy for each speed. The cluster analysis shows that the food characteristics are captured and classified. In addition, the estimation results for Fast chewing indicate that the mechanical mouth also generates the illusion that humans perceive different food textures.