03:37Yoshihiro Nakata, Japanese associate professor at the Graduate School of Informatics and Engineering of the University of Electro-Communications created an edible robot made of gelatin aimed to research humans' behaviour and psychological condition as well as prevent possible health issues.
"In my laboratory, we are developing this kind of robot to study human psychology and cognition when we eat this moving food. This is the first time in the world to study the impression of eating a moving object in this way," the professor explained.
Footage captured in Tokyo on Friday shows a small eatable robot in shape of stick with two hands and tiny black eyes moving and talking as well as Nakata eating it.
"When we eat something that is moving, of course, people feel the freshness, but even though it is not a real living thing, we feel guilty because we feel it is alive, and I have also found that the texture of the food changes when we eat this robot," Nakata said.
The professor also explained that 'moving food' can 'stimulate the mouth' which in its turn can 'have an effect on the brain', and prevent some possible deceases.
"I don't think we usually have much of a sense of the fact that food is, by its very nature, a gift from a living creature, I think we can use robots and moving foodstuffs to remind people that food used to be a living thing and that we are receiving life, and that we should be grateful for that," he concluded.
According to media reports, Yoshihiro created his first edible robot in 2022 in cooperation with workers from the University of Osaka for an experiment aimed at analysing participants' perceptions of the gelatin live figure. The figures were consumed by 16 individuals while they were moving and still. As per media sources, the testing revealed that the robots' textures differed under both settings.
EAT technologies! Japanese professor invents edible robot for psychological research and medical issues
Yoshihiro Nakata, Japanese associate professor at the Graduate School of Informatics and Engineering of the University of Electro-Communications created an edible robot made of gelatin aimed to research humans' behaviour and psychological condition as well as prevent possible health issues.
"In my laboratory, we are developing this kind of robot to study human psychology and cognition when we eat this moving food. This is the first time in the world to study the impression of eating a moving object in this way," the professor explained.
Footage captured in Tokyo on Friday shows a small eatable robot in shape of stick with two hands and tiny black eyes moving and talking as well as Nakata eating it.
"When we eat something that is moving, of course, people feel the freshness, but even though it is not a real living thing, we feel guilty because we feel it is alive, and I have also found that the texture of the food changes when we eat this robot," Nakata said.
The professor also explained that 'moving food' can 'stimulate the mouth' which in its turn can 'have an effect on the brain', and prevent some possible deceases.
"I don't think we usually have much of a sense of the fact that food is, by its very nature, a gift from a living creature, I think we can use robots and moving foodstuffs to remind people that food used to be a living thing and that we are receiving life, and that we should be grateful for that," he concluded.
According to media reports, Yoshihiro created his first edible robot in 2022 in cooperation with workers from the University of Osaka for an experiment aimed at analysing participants' perceptions of the gelatin live figure. The figures were consumed by 16 individuals while they were moving and still. As per media sources, the testing revealed that the robots' textures differed under both settings.
Yoshihiro Nakata, Japanese associate professor at the Graduate School of Informatics and Engineering of the University of Electro-Communications created an edible robot made of gelatin aimed to research humans' behaviour and psychological condition as well as prevent possible health issues.
"In my laboratory, we are developing this kind of robot to study human psychology and cognition when we eat this moving food. This is the first time in the world to study the impression of eating a moving object in this way," the professor explained.
Footage captured in Tokyo on Friday shows a small eatable robot in shape of stick with two hands and tiny black eyes moving and talking as well as Nakata eating it.
"When we eat something that is moving, of course, people feel the freshness, but even though it is not a real living thing, we feel guilty because we feel it is alive, and I have also found that the texture of the food changes when we eat this robot," Nakata said.
The professor also explained that 'moving food' can 'stimulate the mouth' which in its turn can 'have an effect on the brain', and prevent some possible deceases.
"I don't think we usually have much of a sense of the fact that food is, by its very nature, a gift from a living creature, I think we can use robots and moving foodstuffs to remind people that food used to be a living thing and that we are receiving life, and that we should be grateful for that," he concluded.
According to media reports, Yoshihiro created his first edible robot in 2022 in cooperation with workers from the University of Osaka for an experiment aimed at analysing participants' perceptions of the gelatin live figure. The figures were consumed by 16 individuals while they were moving and still. As per media sources, the testing revealed that the robots' textures differed under both settings.