Meiji University Educational Corporation
Professor Yoshiaki Miyashita of Meiji University Faculty of Integrated Mathematics wins Ig Nobel Prize (Nutrition)
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Professor Yoshiaki Miyashita of Meiji University’s Faculty of Mathematics and Specially Appointed Associate Professor Hiromi Nakamura of the University of Tokyo (who was in the master’s program at Meiji University’s Graduate School at the time of the presentation of the award-winning paper) received the Ig Nobel Prize (Nutrition). What is the Ig Nobel Prize?
The Ig Nobel Prize is a parody of the Nobel Prize, and is awarded for research that makes people laugh and think. Founded and run in 1991 by Mark Abrahams, editor of the science humor magazine Annals of Improbable Research. Like the Nobel Prize, there are multiple categories, and each year the award is selected from among more than 5,000 studies and achievements. The presenter who hands out the Ig Nobel Prize is a Nobel Prize winner. The award ceremony was held online on September 14, 2023 at 18:00 (US Eastern Time) and was presented by Peter Doherty, winner of the 1996 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.
Award-winning research (paper)
This year’s Ig Nobel Prize (Nutrition) was awarded to Professor Yoshiaki Miyashita and Project Associate Professor Hiromi Nakamura, who was in the master’s program at Meiji University Graduate School at the time, for their paper “Augmented Gustation using Electricity” published in 2011. Thing. This paper set forth a vision for expanding the taste of food experiences by changing the taste of food and drink using straws, chopsticks, and forks that pass a weak electric current. In 2021, this paper received the “Lasting Impact Award” at Augmented Humans 2021, which is given to a paper that has been widely cited and had a wide impact in the 10 years since its publication. *1
Comment from Professor Yoshiaki Miyashita
I am very honored to receive this award. The award-winning paper relates to a technology developed 13 years ago, but electric taste technology and taste media technology have since been developed and implemented in society in many ways. I believe that this award reflects my expectations for the future and the expansion of this award, and I would like to continue to promote my research.
[Image 1: https://prtimes.jp/i/119558/37/resize/d119558-37-ac12d54181f7abeb4009-0.jpg&s3=119558-37-50167e633db3f53f30a2cd70191bee09-2732×2518.jpg] Professor Yoshiaki Miyashita holding the Ig Nobel Prize trophy Past research results of electric taste developed in Miyashita Laboratory Professor Yoshiaki Miyashita has since promoted research into taste media technology. First, in joint research with Kirin Holdings Co., Ltd., we developed an electrical stimulation waveform that enhances the taste of low-salt foods. Furthermore, as a result of conducting a clinical trial on people who actually follow a low-salt diet, we confirmed that the salty taste felt when eating a low-salt diet was enhanced by about 1.5 times. Kirin Holdings Co., Ltd. plans to release the “Electric Salt” device equipped with this product. *2
At the Miyashita Laboratory, research is progressing to create new “taste media” in addition to electric taste.
Professor Yoshiaki Miyashita has developed many taste media
technologies in addition to the “Electric Taste” that won this award, including the taste display TTTV that reproduces any taste based on the measured values of the taste sensor. “Changing wine to taste like red wine *3” “Changing cacao to a (higher quality) flavor from a different source *4” “Making it safe to experience the taste of poisonous mushrooms *5” “Safely drinking crab even if you have a shellfish allergy” We have disseminated many research results*7 that redefine the common sense of taste, such as “How to enjoy the taste of garlic without causing bad breath”*7, and at an international conference held at the end of October, “How to enjoy garlic without causing bad breath*8″ ” is scheduled to be announced.
[Image 2: https://prtimes.jp/i/119558/37/resize/d119558-37-ca59986d17943526e142-2.png&s3=119558-37-0b96746ab30b19f9d917e20cd497f0fe-658×998.png ]
TTTV3 is the latest model from TTTV*7. This device can “change white wine to taste like red wine*3”, “change cacao to a (higher quality) flavor from a different region*4”, “allow you to safely experience the taste of poisonous mushrooms*5”, and In addition to making it possible for people with shellfish allergies to enjoy the taste of crab safely*6, by collaborating with LLMs such as ChatGPT, it is possible to speak the name of a dish into a microphone and show images of the dish through a webcam. It is now possible to estimate the taste and output it.
[Image 3: https://prtimes.jp/i/119558/37/resize/d119558-37-441c86b7ea70ce744e69-1.jpg&s3=119558-37-8a077762cfaed27c62034e86eb06c788-2000×1333.jpg] A fork equipped with a device that produces a garlic scent. The scent is controlled by computer. By combining it with TTTV3, you can enjoy the taste of garlic without causing bad breath, such as the experience of eating peperoncino without using garlic*8.
*1 Related news
Meiji University Faculty of Integrated Mathematics 2020 News Professor Yoshiaki Miyashita and others receive Lasting Impact Award for Augmented Humans
https://www.meiji.ac.jp/ims/news/2020/6t5h7p00003aguvp.html
*2 Research on electric salt
Meiji University April 11, 2022 Press Release
~ A big step towards making low-salt food more delicious and solving health issues ~ A world first! Confirmation of the effect of increasing salty taste by approximately 1.5 times using electrical stimulation – New technology leading to the development of “tableware that can adjust the taste” –
https://www.meiji.ac.jp/koho/press/6t5h7p00003fh8kv.html
Meiji University September 7, 2022 Press Release
~Delicious lifestyle improvement! A new “Electric Salt” device equipped with the world’s first current waveform – Development of spoons and bowls that enhance the saltiness of low-salt food by approximately 1.5 times using the power of electricity – Aiming to release the device in 2023, Joint demonstration experiment with two food-proposing companies to begin in September
https://www.meiji.ac.jp/koho/press/mkmht0000001gs0t.html
Meiji University November 18, 2022 Press Release
Meiji University’s Yoshiaki Miyashita Laboratory and Kirin jointly developed an electric taste enhancer that enhances salty taste and proposes a salt reduction method that does not sacrifice taste, winning Innovative Technologies 2022.
https://www.meiji.ac.jp/koho/press/mkmht0000001xxcw.html
Congratulatory message received from Kirin Holdings Co., Ltd., our joint research partner
https://www.kirinholdings.com/jp/newsroom/release/2023/0915_01.html *3 Research to change the taste of white wine to red wine
Kanabushi, Takato Murakami, Yoshiaki Miyashita. Expressing the taste of wine using TTTV3, Entertainment Computing 2023 Proceedings, Vol. 2023, pp. 298-301, 2023.
[Video 3: https://prtimes.jp/api/movieim.php?url=www.youtube.com/watch?v=oQpyxE3IUe8 ]
*4 Research to change the taste of cacao from different production areas (higher quality)
Xueji Peng, Miku Fukaike, Nobuhito Kasahara, Takato Murakami, Takeyoshi Yoshimoto, Yoshiteru Minato, Ruto Tomibari, Zouta Miyashita, Takeharu Kawada, Yoshiaki Miyashita. A method to quantify the differences in the taste of cacao from different regions and reproduce it with pure substances, Entertainment Computing Symposium
Proceedings, Vol. 2023, pp. 390 – 393, 2023.
[Video 4: https://prtimes.jp/api/movieim.php?url=www.youtube.com/watch?v=s8HxRz7KCz0] *5 Research to enable people to safely experience the taste of poisonous mushrooms
Homei Miyashita. 2022. Virtual eating experience of poisonous mushrooms using TTTV2. In Proceedings of the 28th ACM Symposium on Virtual Reality Software and Technology (VRST ’22). Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA, Article 81, 1- 2.
https://doi.org/10.1145/3562939.3565668
*6 Research to enable people with shellfish allergies to enjoy the taste of crab safely
Homei Miyashita. 2022. TTTV2 makes it possible for people with shellfish allergies to still enjoy the taste of crab virtually. In Proceedings of the 28th ACM Symposium on Virtual Reality Software and Technology (VRST ’22). Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA, Article 79, 1-2. https://doi.org/10.1145/3562939.3565669 *7 Research presentation regarding TTTV3
Meiji University August 31, 2023 Press Release
Yoshiaki Miyashita Laboratory, Faculty of Integrated Mathematics, Meiji University, announces “TTTV3,” a seasoning device that uses AI to estimate taste and reproduce differences in production areas. https://www.meiji.ac.jp/koho/press/2023/mkmht000000j96ss.html *8 How to enjoy garlic without causing bad breath
Miku Fukaike, Homei Miyashita. 2023. How To Eat Garlic Without Causing Bad Breath. In Adjunct. Proceedings of the 36th annual ACM symposium on user interface software and technology (UIST ’23 Adjunct). Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA, 1-2. (To appear)
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