Virtual reality applications in food science. Current knowledge and prospects

Abstract

Virtual reality (VR) offers a new instrument for food scientists to evaluate different aspects of food products. The possible applications range from product design testing, evaluation of the labels, effects of different placements or the evaluation of store layouts. These analyses help us to get a deeper understanding of consumers' minds. Additionally, VR can be coupled by several different tools (e.g. eye-trackers or skin conductance sensors or even electroencephalographs). However, as there have been only a limited number of applications published, there are several open questions which need to be answered. In the presented paper the authors aim i) to introduce the current knowledge on VR applications in food science by introducing several fields of applications and ii) to point out the most important questions regarding the applications of VR in food science.