UK scientists develop new TastyFloats contactless food-delivery system

Scientists at the University of Sussex and the University of Bristol have created new contactless food-delivery system TastyFloats, which levitates, transports, and delivers food and drink to the diner’s tongue.

The new system is designed to levitate food from the kitchen to the mouth, in contrast to existing methods that use magnetic forces to move the serving plate.

The University of Sussex School of Engineering and Informatics’ Sussex Computer Human Interaction (SCHI) Lab’s multisensory experiences research fellow Dr Chi Thanh Vi said: “Chefs across the world have become increasingly fascinated by exploiting novel technologies.

“Indeed, most of us are familiar with molecular gastronomy, where the physical and chemical make-up of food is changed to deliver new taste experiences.

“Our study is the first to show that it is possible to levitate food and drink morsels themselves, opening up a whole new design space.”

The new system uses cost-effective, ultrasonic transducers to form standing ultrasound waves. These act as acoustic holograms, which generate invisible shapes that trap objects in place in mid-air.

The manipulation of patterns allows the food to be transported on the wave to a particular location.

Studies carried out on sweet, bitter, and savoury items showed that the levitation provided more intense flavours.

The scientists intend to further refine the TastyFloats device to enable delivery of bigger and more complex combinations of food.

The delivery system is also expected to have potential applications in gaming, virtual reality, and cinema.