Professor Ellen Yi-Luen Do shares research on Chinese technology show
ATLAS ProfessorEllen Yi-Luen Do'swas featured on “MyFuture,” a popular technology show aired on Hunan Satellite TV on Aug. 16, with the first 27 minutes of the 70-minute program devoted to Do’s team.A professor of computer science and director of the ATLAS ACME (A Creativity Machine Environment) Lab, Ellen Do also directs theKeio-NUS CUTE Center at the National University of Singapore where the Virtual Cocktail Project was launched.
During the show, which is viewed by 20 – 40 million, audience members drank from the “Magic Water Glass” (nicknamefor the “Virtual Cocktail Project”),each experiencing a different taste (sour, bitter, or salty). Do explainedhow the color of the drink combined with natural food aroma and digital simulation of taste (via two silver electrodes on a 3D printed glass) changes a person’s perceived taste. Aspart of the show,Do demonstratedhow an app is used to remotely control the cup via Bluetooth.
Afterwards, the host invited children from the audience to use the app to mix new flavors for others to try—three blindfolded volunteers tastednew flavors suggested by the audience, including"Hot PotFlavoredMilk," "Tom Yum FlavoredCoffee" and "Black Pepper Coke."
Virtual Cocktailis an interactive system capable of conveying taste, smelland visual stimuli to augment flavor sensations. Its novelty lies in the ability to switch between taste modes (salty, bitter, sour) and aromas, allowing users to explore and experimentally create new flavors. Future applications include providing sensation to those who have lost their sense of taste and simulating sweetness for those trying to avoid sugary drinks.
A replay of can be viewed(in Chinese, 2:34 - 26:31) on YouTube.
Virtual Cocktail-related academic papers
Nimesha Ranasinghe, David Tolley, Thi Ngoc Tram Nguyen, Liangkun Yan, BarryChew,Ellen Yi-Luen Do, 2018,, in, (in Press, available online 31 May 2018)
- Nimesha Ranasinghe, Thi Ngoc Tram Nguyen, Yan Liangkun, Lien-Ya Lin, David Tolley, andEllen Yi-Luen Do. 2017.. InProceedings of the 2017 ACM on Multimedia Conference(MM '17). ACM, New York, NY, USA, 1139-1147. DOI:(Mountain View, California, Oct.23-27, 2017).