A Moving Feast: Effects of Color, Shape and Animation on Taste Associations and Taste Perceptions

Research into multimodal flavor perceptions has demonstrated associations between basic tastes and visual cues. Moreover, such associations have been found to influence taste perception. Here we are interested in how mixed reality technology in the form of projection mapping can be used to introduce such visual cues during consumption. First, associations between basic tastes and visualizations that differed in color, shape and animation speed were investigated in a crowdsourcing study. The study demonstrated associations between sweetness and red rounded shapes, and sourness and green angular shapes with a fast animation speed. A subsequent lab study where the visualizations were projected around a cup of yogurt that participants tasted confirmed these associations. Finally, specific combinations of visualizations and animation types were found to influence taste perceptions of the yogurt. The implications of these findings are discussed.