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HOU Yuki, first-year master’s student in Frontier Media Science Program at Graduate School of Advanced Mathematical Sciences, and other laboratory student members (MIYASHITA Homei laboratory) won the Outstanding Demonstration Award at Entertainment Computing 2023 for their “demonstration of changing the taste of cacao to that of different production areas.”

At Entertainment Computing 2023 (EC2023), held by Special Interest Group on Entertainment Computing of the Information Processing Society of Japan at Tokyo University of Technology from August 30 to September 2, 2023, the lead author, HOU Yuki, first-year student of the Graduate School of Advanced Mathematical Sciences, and other student members of MIYASHITA Homei laboratory, gave a demonstration of “the method to quantify taste differences of cacao by production area and reproduce them with pure substances,” and about 100 participants tasted them. As a result, they were awarded the Outstanding Demonstration Award, whose recipients are determined by vote of general participants, and the Recognition of Demonstration Recommendation Award, whose recipients are determined by nomination of the Committee. Other student members of MIYASHITA Homei laboratory are FUKAIKE Miku, KASAHARA Nobuhito, MURAKAMI Shuto, YOSHIMOTO Takegi, MINATO Yoshiki (fourth-year undergraduates), and TOMIHARI Ryuto (first-year master’s student).

This research was conducted jointly by Miyashita Laboratory and Mitsui & Co., Ltd. Mitsui & Co., Ltd. believes that digital transformation (DX) will be a source of growth, and aims to create new business models through the power of digital in the field of food as well. The company is exploring the possibility of not only product development but also unexpected food in the future as one of the approaches of "food x digital" by using TTTV to remotely access and digitize taste.

In this research, using methods such as the use of multiple liquid solutions for one taste to realize high taste reproducibility, and "taste subtraction," which make a certain taste lighter utilizing taste modulators, or the masking effect of another taste, high grade Peruvian cacao drink is reproduced by spraying a mixture of liquids with different tastes into Côte d'Ivoire cacao drink. The production and seasoning of the cacao drink are conducted under the evaluation and supervision of a professional pastry chef at Mitsui & Co.'s Food Business Unit Development Center, and some demonstrators were surprised at the reproducibility of the drink. The paper and poster also included a graph measuring the degree of reproducibility achieved by a taste sensor.

Title：HOU Yuki , FUKAIKE Miku, KASAHARA Nobuhito, MURAKAMI Shuto, YOSHIMOTO Takegi, MINATO Yoshiki, TOMIHARI Ryuto, MIYASHITA Kurata , KAWATA Takeharu, and MIYASHITA Homei. Method to quantify taste differences of cacao by production area and reproduce them with pure substances. Entertainment Computing Symposium Proceedings, Vol.2023, pp.390-393, 2023.
Outline: This paper describes a method to change the taste of chocolate to that of different production areas. The difference between two kinds of taste is measured by a taste sensor, and the taste is changed by the method of mixing the taste solutions based on it. It also became possible to carry out detailed expression by using multiple liquid solutions for one taste to realize high taste reproducibility, as well as adding the taste and subtracting the taste by the masking effect. This research succeeded in changing the taste of inexpensive Côte d'Ivoire cacao drink to that of expensive and rare Peruvian cacao, and received high evaluation from experts.

≪Japanese version≫