Phygital Seasoning

Taste Is a Perception.

Taste is not created by the tongue alone. It emerges in the brain, where information from our senses is combined to shape how we experience food. Research in neurogastronomy and sensory science, including the work of Professor Charles Spence at the University of Oxford, shows how colour, shape, texture, sound and smell can influence taste perception. Round shapes, soft textures, pink and red colours, sweet aromas and light sounds, for example, can make food seem sweeter. Laila Snevele first explored these principles in Digital Seasoning (2018), a project that visualised the five basic tastes on a screen. But she saw a limitation: sensory experiences created by restaurants, brands or designers remain tied to the physical location in which they are designed. Phygital Seasoning takes the next step, imagining a near future in which augmented environments can become a layer of sensory influence wherever we go.

One Product. Infinite Possibilities.

If augmented technology can alter how we perceive taste, it could also change how we think about the food itself. Snevele imagines a system in which one optimised product could become many different experiences through digital seasoning. She calls this a “mono-product”: a nutritious, broadly appealing base product designed to be enjoyed on its own, but also digitally adapted to individual preferences. A chip, yoghurt, soda, cookie or even cheese could become sweeter, sourer, crunchier or softer, or take on a flavour such as pineapple or tomato, without changing the physical product. Friends could eat the same product while experiencing it differently, even sharing their personal taste settings. Variety would move from the factory and supermarket shelf into the digital layer, turning product development itself into a space for experimentation.

From Physical Variety to Digital Possibility.

This shift could have consequences far beyond personal taste. If variety no longer requires producing every physical version of a product, the food system could become less dependent on overproduction, excess stock and waste. New food experiences could be designed and tested digitally before anything is manufactured. Homes and supermarkets might need to store fewer products, while food distribution could become simpler and more efficient. More fundamentally, Phygital Seasoning asks what happens when we separate the desire for variety from the need to physically produce it. Grounded in sensory science, behavioural research and collaboration with scientists and technology developers, Snevele uses speculative design to explore how a change in perception could become a catalyst for rethinking what we eat, how we produce it, and how we relate to food.


Shaping Umami.

This year, the research itself becomes part of the exhibition, revealing how colour, shape, smell, sound and umami shape the final sensory experience. Visitors can explore the data and design decisions behind the work, experience the evolving body of umami, and contribute to shaping it through their own participation.