A meal supporting system using the virtual color to make a smell stronger for elderly people

2021 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 17K00941
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Eating habits
• Research Institution: Setsunan University
• Principal Investigator: Horii Chinatsu 摂南大学, 経営学部, 教授 (00273863)
• Project Period (FY): 2017-04-01 – 2022-03-31
• Keywords: 食彩デザイン / 複合現実感 / 色彩情報処理 / 支援システム

Outline of Final Research Achievements

A meal lends a glow to elderly people in everyday life, and they need to have fun to eat utilizing the senses of smell and taste. However, it becomes difficult to obtain a sensitive sense from a meal as people get older. In order to solve this problem, this research focuses on pre-meal behavior, its goal is to express the smell of a meal with virtual color. It estimated the virtual color to make a smell stronger based on the color distribution reminded of seven types of tastes, and it made the meal supporting system which reproduces this estimated color with AR glasses and a moving camera.

Free Research Field

色彩情報処理学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

本研究課題では、食事の匂い感を強化するための色情報を推定し、この推定色を仮想的に高齢者の実食で再現する食事支援システムを構築した。本システムを活用することで、摂食制限などから偏った食材を選んだり、単調で薄い味付けとなりがちな高齢者の食事に対して匂い感を仮想的に付加し、食欲低下の傾向にある高齢者の食事に楽しみや満足感を提供することが期待できる。