Taste Through a Different Lens: The Role of Mixed Reality Color Saturation in Sensory and Hedonic Evaluations

Visual perception significantly shapes food experiences, influencing taste expectations and sensory evaluation. While the impact of color on taste is well established, so far few studies have examined how specific visual manipulations in physical dining environments affect perception. This pilot study explores the relationship between visual manipulations of food appearance (i.e., color saturation) in Mixed Reality (MR) environments and taste perceptions. Twelve participants engaged in a MR dining experience where they consumed real food while experiencing controlled variations in color saturation. The study compared responses to sweet and savory stimuli under high and low saturation conditions. Participants provided ratings for both sensory attributes (sweetness, saltiness, sourness, bitterness, umami, and intensity) and hedonic attributes (goodness, freshness, naturalness, healthiness, quality, and perceived cost) both prior to and following tasting. Preliminary results suggest that color saturation may influence pre-consumption expectations and possibly affect post-consumption sensory evaluations for both taste and hedonic dimensions. Descriptive trends suggest differential effects based on the food stimulus. Despite preliminary, this study offers methodological insights for future investigations into crossmodal sensory integration and highlights the potential of MR as a tool for examining the complex interplay between visual context and taste perception.