忘掉虛擬現實 你準備好嚐嚐虛擬壽司了嗎

Magic Leap, Microsoft’s HoloLens, and Oculus VR hope to fool our eyes. A small team of designers, engineers, and chefs have cooked up a “gastronomical virtual reality experience” that uses head-mounted displays, 3-D printers, and food science to trick our taste buds.

Magic Leap、微軟的 HoloLens 還有歐酷拉（Oculus VR）都想欺騙我們的雙眼。一小隊設計師、工程師和廚師卻烹製出了使用頭戴式顯示、3D打印和食品科學來欺騙我們的味蕾的“虛擬現實美食體驗”。

Project Nourished combines brightly colored experimental cuisine, crafted from agar and pectin, with VR simulations intended to make those meager morsels seem tastier than they really are. If creator Jinsoo An succeeds, diners will don a virtual reality headset and be transported to a place where the Jello-like wedge placed before them is transformed into a sumptuous slice of apple pie.

Project Nourished把用瓊脂和果膠製成的顏色鮮亮的實驗菜餚與虛擬現實仿真技術相結合，讓那些可憐的小塊食物看起來更美味。如果發明人安辰浂成功了，食客們將戴上虛擬現實頭部套裝被傳送到一個讓那些擺在他們面前的果凍一樣的小塊食物變成一塊奢華的蘋果派的地方。

Two things inspired Project Nourished. First, a scene in Hook where a grown Peter Pan remembers how to use his sense of imagination to turn bowls of colorful goop into a gourmet meal. Second, An’s stepfather is diabetic and has had to cut some of his favorite foods from his diet. An’s goal is to provide a savory simulation without spiking blood sugar. “Even though the food is completely imaginary, there is a sense of joy, happiness and being part of a family,” says An. “We want this happiness to be the focal point of our experience.”

兩件事給了 Project Nourished 靈感。第一個是《鐵鉤船長》中的一個場景。長大了的彼得潘想起了怎樣用他的想象力把五彩漿變成美味大餐。第二件事是，安辰浂的繼父患有糖尿病，不得不避免食用一些他喜歡的食物。安辰浂的目標是實現一種不升高血糖的味覺模擬。“儘管食物完全是虛擬的，但這是一種愉悅、幸福和作爲家庭一份子的感覺。”安辰浂說，“我們希望這種幸福感是我們這項體驗的核心。”

Simulating food has an uncanny valley problem, one An decided to design around by making his virtual victuals distinct from the menu items they’re meant to mimic. “We tackled this by making the faux foods look considerably different from the actual foods, while making it somewhat recognizable,” he says. “This ensured that the users don’t expect the foods to taste and feel in certain way, because it won’t be 100 percent.”

仿真食物也面臨恐怖谷問題。針對這個問題，安辰浂決定將他的虛擬食品製作得和被仿製的食品不太一樣。“我們把仿真食品做得和真實食品看上去不太一樣，但又能讓人看出來被仿製的食品是什麼。我們通過這種辦法來解決這個問題。”他說，“這保證了用戶不會對將品嚐的食物產生特定的味道和感覺的期待，因爲它不會是100%還原的。”

Texture is a critical culinary consideration and An’s team is working to recreate the mouthfeel of sushi, steak, and apple pie using natural, low-calorie ingredients. “Some of our ingredients were inspired by vegan and allergy-free cooking since vegan and food allergy communities have already done a lot of experiments trying to mimic various types of foods that they are not able to eat,” says An. “For example, we are experimenting with nutritious yeast and shiitake mushroom powder to recreate dry-aged and umami flavors in our faux steak.”

質感是烹飪中的重要問題。安辰浂的團隊正嘗試用天然的低熱量配料重現壽司、牛排和蘋果派的口感。“我們的有些配方是受素食和防過敏烹飪的啓發，因爲素食主義者和食物過敏羣體已經做了很多模仿他們不能吃的各種食物的實驗。”安辰浂說，“比如，我們正在試驗用營養酵母和香菇粉來讓我們的仿牛排重現乾式熟成的風味和鮮味。”

Project Nourished isn’t the only team pursuing this goal. Researchers Hiromi Nakamura and Nimesha Ranasinghe have been experimenting with tongue-based interfaces that can simulate sweet, salty, and savory flavors by sending an electrical current into taste buds. “While the research findings were quite extraordinary, we decided to move away from this direction since most people would be freaked out if we told them we are going to send electrical current through their tongue,” says An.

Project Nourished 並不是追逐這個目標的唯一團隊。中村裕美和 Nimesha Ranasinghe 等研究者也在研究通過向味蕾發送電流來模擬甜、鹹、鮮等味道的基於舌頭的交互界面。“儘管這些研究成果非常出色，我們還是決定不走這個方向，因爲如果我們告訴他們我們將向他們的舌頭傳送電流，大多數人都會被嚇瘋。”安辰浂說。

An aromatic diffuser is employed to amplify the olfactory elements of the experience, turning scented oils into pleasing aromas. “Close your eyes and imagine yourself walking into a bakery with fresh breads and pies. We want that experience to be replicated in our pie-eating experience,” says An. “So far, we have tried turning beer, broth, herb and fruit-infused water into fine mist, and they worked quite nicely.”

一種芳香擴散器被用來提升體驗中的嗅覺因素，將芳香油變成怡人的香味。“閉上你的眼鏡，想像你正走進一間放着剛出爐的麪包和派的麪包房。我們希望這種體驗能在我們的派品嚐體驗中重現。”安辰浂說，“到目前爲止，我們已經嘗試了將啤酒、肉湯、香料和水果味的水製成氣霧，它們很成功。”

The Project Nourished team loves cooking, eating, and knows it will be a long time before VR can compete with Per Se. But that’s no reason not to push the boundaries. “After experimenting with sous vide and molecular gastronomy, I wanted to see if there are other ways for us to consume food,” says An. “Some of these ideas can be quite scary or seem far out, but I think designers, technologists and culinary professionals should start thinking about these implications so that we can make more conscious decisions down the line. One thing we should never do is to fear.”

Project Nourished 團隊熱愛烹飪和美食，他們也知道虛擬現實要想要和 Per Se 餐廳比拼還有很長的路要走。但是，沒有理由停滯不前。“試驗過真空低溫烹調和分子烹飪之後，我想知道我們有沒有其他辦法來利用食物。”安辰浂說，“有些想法可能很恐怖或很詭異，但我認爲設計師、技術人員和烹飪專家應該開始考慮這些應用，讓我們將來能做出更多合理的選擇。我們唯一絕對不該做的事就是畏懼。”