World's First Edible Robot Developed in Japan

According to TapTechNews on May 26, TapTechNews learned from the Sankei Shimbun that the research team led by Associate Professor Nakata Yoshihiro of the University of Electro-Communications in Japan has recently successfully developed the world's first robot for the purpose of consumption.

This robot looks like a gummy candy in apple flavor on the surface, but it has two round eyes, can wave its hands and make a sound: Hello! I'm looking forward to chatting with you today. While speaking, it will also swing its body.

It is introduced that the robot is composed of an edible part made of gelatin as the raw material and a metal part. There are air vents on the gelatin that make the object shake, and the sound is emitted from the speaker connected to the robot.

When talking about what this robot can do, Nakata Yoshihiro said that his goal is to create a completely new dining experience. It is reported that Anpanman is one of its inspiration sources. Anpanman tears off a part from his face and gives it to others to eat, and people will feel an extraordinary deliciousness and become full of energy after eating. Nakata thus made a hypothesis: through communicating with food, human taste may change.

He said that if the robot is regarded as a communication object, humans will have a certain emotion, which will have a greater impact on the taste or feeling they taste. If the relevant effects can be gradually confirmed, perhaps people can eat the ingredients they originally don't like with the help of robots.