BubblEat: Designing a Bubble-Based Olfactory Delivery for Retronasal Smell in Every Spoonful

Daiki Mayumi, Yugo Nakamura, Yuki Matsuda, Keiichi Yasumoto: “BubblEat: Designing a Bubble-Based Olfactory Delivery for Retronasal Smell in Every Spoonful,” The 2025 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI '25 Late Breaking Work), Article No.118, pp.1-8, 2025.

Abstract

Traditional olfactory delivery methods, such as airflow, vaporization, heating, and atomization, struggle to effectively deliver retronasal smell during eating. This study introduces BubblEat, a cutlery device that places aroma-infused bubbles on a spoon, releasing scents upon bursting in the mouth to enhance retronasal olfactory perception. To optimize bubble-based aroma delivery, we examined liquid viscosity, key factors influencing stability and aroma release. Based on these findings, we developed a BubblEat prototype with a bubble generation mechanism capable of delivering stable, user-friendly aroma-infused bubbles. We designed BubblEat to achieve enhancing dining experiences by effectively presenting retronasal smells. This study demonstrates the feasibility of bubble-based aroma delivery, complementing orthonasal smell and opening new avenues for sensory-enhanced dining.

Links

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1145/3706599.3720047

PDF: https://cocolab.jp/publication/files/202504_CHI-LBW_Mayumi.pdf

BibTeX

code:references.bib

@inproceedings{bib:mayumi_bubbleat_chi2025,

author={Mayumi, Daiki and Nakamura, Yugo and Matsuda, Yuki and Yasumoto, Keiichi},

title={BubblEat: Designing a Bubble-Based Olfactory Delivery for Retronasal Smell in Every Spoonful},

booktitle={Proceedings of the Extended Abstracts of the CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI EA '25)},

number={118},

pages={1--8},

year={2025},

doi={10.1145/3706599.3720047},

url={https://doi.org/10.1145/3706599.3720047}

}

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