NEC has announced the world's first "tasting" robot. It is surprisingly accurate, too, able to distinguish between different types of cheese and bread. My taste buds work fine, and I still can't do that.

Another feature of the robot is its ability to offer advice. If its analysis concludes that there is a certain percentage of fat in the food, it will actually let you know that you're turning into a fatty. And since it's a robot, you don't have to worry about it reserving its judgement!

NEC System Technologies announced o­n the 9th that in cooperation with Mie University they have developed a personal robot capable of "tasting" foods. It is reportedly the first robot capable of judging tastes. The composition of foods is analyzed with an infrared sensor, and the robot will give advice about health and eating habits.

The "Health/Food Advice Robot" has been developed. The composition of foods is determined by an infrared sensor equipped to o­ne of the robot's arms.

The robot takes advantage of a property called "spectrum reflection ratio" (the reflection ratio of light per wavelength) of water, protein, and molecule type. The food is exposed to infrared light of varying wavelengths, which will bounce back; the robot then analyzes the spectrum of the infrared light that returns...and can thus understand what molecules are inside of the food.

NEC's "Health/Food Advice Robot" will investigate the composition and proportion inside the food, will issue a warning for taking in too much fat and/or sugar, or tell you if fruit is ripe. If the infrared reflection ratio distribution of various foods is loaded inside the unit beforehand, it can compare the results of the researched food, and determine the actual type of food. For example, it can immediately recognize the make of cheese of type of bread.

This is a combination of NEC's robot technology and pattern recognition technology with Mie University's Organic Resources Department Takamoto Laboratories infrared spectrum analysis technology. While the development of humanoid robots is continuing, the development of "taste" and "smell" of the five senses has not. With support for increasing health-consciousness and nursing applications, this development advances towards the realization of a partner robot with all five senses.

The robot was demonstrated at the "Aichi World Expo" fairgrounds o­n the 9th at the "Prototype Robot Demonstration" (runs until June 19th).

Inspired by:
http://www.itmedia.co.jp/lifestyle/articles/0506/09/news070.html

News Release:
http://www.necst.co.jp/press/20050609/index.htm