A Japanese professor from Meiji University has developed a prototype TV screen that can simulate food flavors. And how does the viewer get a taste of this? They’ve just got to lick the screen.

Developed by Homei Miyashita, the device is called Taste The TV (TTTV), and it’s another step towards creating a multi-sensory viewing experience. “The goal is to make it possible for people to have the experience of something like eating at a restaurant on the other side of the world, even while staying at home,” he said.

TTTV uses a carousel of 10 flavor canisters that spray combinations to recreate the taste of a particular food item. The sample is sprayed on a hygienic film over a flat TV screen for the viewer to try. The professor, along with a team of 30 students, has developed multiple related products including a fork meant to enhance the taste of the food. One of the students who worked on the project gave reporters a demo of how the TV works. She first told the television that she wanted to taste chocolate. After a few tries, an automated voice from the TV repeated the order and the flavor was sprayed onto a plastic sheet. The student claimed it tasted like milk chocolate.

Miyashita has also offered his spraying technique to other tech firms for them to bring out products that can make toasted bread taste like a slice of pizza or chocolate. Apart from these inventions, he also intends to develop a platform that’ll allow users to download flavours from across the globe. According to the professor, the unconventional, lickable TV will cost about $875 (approximately ₹65,500).

Image credit: Reuters