The apparent volume of food in front of a diner influences his/her eating behavior. Given that estimating volume is often a relative judgment, the apparent food volume is assessed according to the size of neighboring objects such as dishes and cutlery. Some studies in engineering have also proposed a system that controls food intake by changing the size of the food interactively. However, there are limitations on the kind of places where such a system can be utilized and the additional necessity for wearable devices. On the other hand, studies have shown that the ratio of the size of the dish to the size of the food it contains has an effect on the estimated food volume and the amount of food consumed. With this finding as our underlying basis, we constructed a tabletop system that projects virtual dishes around the food in order to change the assessed apparent food volume interactively. This system could therefore help to solve the problem of obesity through computer interaction technology.

Presenter(s)

Sho Sakurai, The University of Tokyo
Takuji Narumi, The University of Tokyo
Yuki Ban, The University of Tokyo
Tomohiro Tanikawa, The University of Tokyo
Michitaka Hirose, The University of Tokyo