Exploring the eating experience of a pneumatically-driven edible robot: Perception, taste, and texture

• Published in: PloS one Vol. 19; no. 2; p. e0296697
• Main Authors: Nakata, Yoshihiro, Ban, Midori, Yamaki, Ren, Horibe, Kazuya, Takahashi, Hideyuki, Ishiguro, Hiroshi
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Public Library of Science 05-02-2024; Public Library of Science (PLoS)
• Subjects: Biology and Life Sciences; Engineering and Technology; Food; Food habits; Health aspects; Humans; Mastication; Medicine and Health Sciences; Movement; Physical Sciences; Psychological aspects; Robotics - methods; Robotics industry; Robots; Social Sciences; Taste Perception; Visualization (Mental images); Japan
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0296697

This study investigated the effects of animated food consumption on human psychology. We developed a movable, edible robot and evaluated the participants' impressions induced by the visualization of its movements and eating of the robot. Although several types of edible robots have been developed, to the best of our knowledge, the psychological effects associated with the eating of a robot have not been investigated. We developed a pneumatically driven edible robot using gelatin and sugar. We examined its perceived appearance and the participants' impressions when it was eaten. In the robot-eating experiment, we evaluated two conditions: one in which the robot was moved and one in which it was stationary. Our results showed that participants perceived the moving robot differently from the stationary robot, leading to varied perceptions, when consuming it. Additionally, we observed a difference in perceived texture when the robot was bitten and chewed under the two conditions. These findings provide valuable insights into the practical applications of edible robots in various contexts, such as the medical field and culinary entertainment.