Robotic Wine Tasting Nanosensor Can Perform Better than Inferior Human Wine Critics

Artificial Tongue Application Potential Not Yet Fully Explored But We Suspect You Have Ideas Not Mentioned Here

This might the first post we’ve done that falls into the categories “Food & Drink” and “Robotics”. I have a feeling it won’t be the last. TechCrunch reports:

Researchers in Denmark have created an artificial tongue to find out whether expensive wine actually tastes any better than the cheap stuff.

The research, first published in ACS Nano, claims that an optical nanosensor based on surface plasmon resonance (SPR) can discern how you experience the sensation of dryness in wine. And they say this nanosensor can judge the way the tannins will hit your flavor sensors better than the finest wine critic can.

Some may argue that it takes a human, not a robot, to discover what is worth a sip. However, the researchers at Arhaus University argue that the nanosensor is free from the human critic’s personal prejudice. They may have a point. There’s a lot that goes into making wine taste a certain way. Everything from the variety of the grape to the minerals in the soil to what kind of sunlight the grapes received chemically affects the taste and smell of the wine from season to season – in even the same grape.

According to MarketWatch, over 31.4 billion 750 ml bottles of wine are bought and sold throughout the world every year. While some standard ratings have been placed on wine and there’s a decent following in wine personalities and what they recommend, everyone has different tastes in what they like. This makes it particularly hard to decide which wine will do at the local grocery store.

Instead of telling you that this wine tastes of leather bound books and mahogany, the nanosensor lets you know just how astringent the wine is. It does this by measuring the molecules in your mouth instead.…(more)

TechCrunch