A Japanese professor has invented a new type of television screen that you can lick to experience different tastes.
Move over 8k - the latest trend in TV technology could be something far simpler (and much stranger) than a higher resolution display - that is, at least, if you are actually willing to use it.
Known as Taste the TV (or 'TTTV' for short), this new prototype TV technology is being developed by Homei Miyashita, a professor at Japan's Meiji University in Tokyo.
A major step towards a full, multisensory viewing experience, the screen works using a carousel of 10 unique flavor canisters that combine together to produce a wide range of distinct tastes.
To experience them, all you have to do is lick the screen.
While this might seem a rather questionable practice in the middle of a pandemic, the idea behind the technology is to make it possible to experience new and interesting flavors without leaving your house.
"The goal is to make it possible for people to have the experience of something like eating at a restaurant on the other side of the world, even while staying at home," said Miyashita.
Working together with a team of 30 students, Miyashita has also been in talks to use his spray taste technology in a device that can apply different flavors to a piece of toast.
Whether the idea of a lickable television screen will catch on, however, remains to be seen.