Earlier this week, we discussed a mind-controlled robotic arm that could revolutionize the way patients interact with prosthetics. A recent Digital Trends article discussed another new “prosthetic” that may not be as useful, but will definitely have more novelty appeal. It’s an electronic tongue developed by IBM that can identify flavors in liquid, and they’re calling it Hypertaste.
Users dip the handheld tongue in different liquids, and the device uses pattern matching technology augmented by machine learning to identify the composition of the liquids. In a recent demonstration, the e-tongue was able to distinguish between different brands of bottled water accurately and consistently. It seems likely that this technology could one day identify counterfeit or compromised drugs.
