Work

Sonic Delights: Exploring the Design of Food as An Auditory-Gustatory Interface

Year: 2025

Type: conference-paper

Abstract: While interest in blending sound with culinary experiences has grown in Human-Food Interaction (HFI), the significance of food's material properties in shaping sound-related interactions has largely been overlooked. This paper explores the opportunity to enrich the HFI experience by treating food not merely as passive nourishment but as an integral material in computational architecture with input/output capabilities. We introduce “Sonic Delights,” where food is a comestible auditory-gustatory interface to enable users to interact with and consume digital sound. This concept redefines food as a conduit for interactive auditory engagement, shedding light on the untapped multisensory possibilities of merging taste with digital sound. An associated study allowed us to articulate design insights for forthcoming HFI endeavors that seek to weave food into multisensory design, aiming to further the integration of digital interactivity with the culinary arts.

Source: CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems

DOI: 10.1145/3706598.3713892

Authors: Jialin Deng, Yinyi Li, Hongyue Wang, Ziqi Fang, Florian ‘Floyd’ Mueller

Institutions: University of Bristol, Monash University, Royal College of Art, Imperial College London

Language: English

Topic: Innovative Human-Technology Interaction

Subfield: Human-Computer Interaction

Field: Computer Science

Domain: Physical Sciences

Open Access status: hybrid

Funder: Australian Research Council

Award: Advancing Australia’s hospitality industry through interactive food