Multi-sensorial Gastronomy

Food design / Product design

Smart crockery that glows once food is served on it? That's the latest project of the Philips Design Probe in association with Spanish restaurant Arzak, that aims to stimulate debate around future lifestyle concepts.

By Editor Design.nl / 16-02-2010

Philips Design and Spanish restaurant Arzak, pioneers in molecular gastronomy, have collaborated to create a series of multi-sensorial china crockery intended to heighten the dining experience. The Multi-sensorial gastronomy Probe project is part of the Philips Design Probe program which was established to explore far future lifestyle scenarios.

Philips Design approached Arzak for a creative collaboration employing multi-sensorial gastronomy, design and technology to explore ways in which sensory experience can be enhanced during a meal. The bone china series - Lunar Eclipse (bowl), Fama (long plate) and Tapa da Luz (serving plate) – is designed to react to the food. When liquid is poured into the bowl, a glow subtly appears from the bottom of the bowl which in turn fades while you are eating and returns when the bowl is placed on the table. A similar effect can be seen with the plates. Light starts to glow as soon as food is placed on the plates.

Arzak created three special dishes to accompany the plates, complementing the design concept of the crockery: Pomez stone – the only stone that floats; Totem and taboo of foie and; After the footsteps of the roe deer.

The series, made using bone china a familiar everyday material, involves the integration of lighting, conductive printing, selective fragrance discharge, micro-vibration, electro stimulus and a host of other sensory stimuli that affect the food and the diner in subtle ways. The Multi-sensorial gastronomy Probe project sets out to explore ways in which sensory experience can be altered dynamically during a meal. The ideas are a collaborative exploration of concepts intended to provoke discussion and debate in the world of food and technology futures.

Juan Mari Arzak, Chef of Arzak: "Molecular gastronomy has developed from a handful of exponents into a global phenomenon. It has led to the adaptation of scientific laboratory equipment and the invention of new kitchen technology, which makes it a small step to explore the presentation of dishes. The combination of our food creations on the multi-sensorial bone china concepts adds an extra dimension to the dining experience."

Watch the video of Multi-sensorial Gastronomy below.

Images © Philips Design