That sounds good: the acoustic side of texture analysis

Does what your food “sounds” like affects your perception of how good it tastes? Yes, says Charles Spence, researcher and a professor of experimental psychology at Oxford University, and that sound is the “forgotten flavor sense.” Spence is the author of a recent report titled “Eating with our ears: assessing the importance of the sounds of consumption on our perception and enjoyment of multisensory flavour experiences.”

We agree. We have worked with our customers for the past few years in the relatively new science of acoustic texture analysis. From measuring chocolate “snap” to the crispiness of potato chips, food scientists in many industries are eager to understand how sound impacts customer experience of a product. Using a special sound-capture device such as our acoustic envelope detector attached to the TA.XTPlus texture analyzer, we’re are able to capture product behaviors that were previously extremely difficult to quantify.

Read more about this fascinating new side of texture analysis here:

Flavour Journal: Eating with our ears: assessing the importance of the sounds of consumption on our perception and enjoyment of multi-sensory flavour experiences. Read more

Charles Spence’s Crossmodal Research Laboratory at Leeds University studies the integration of information across the various different sensory modalities (hearing, vision, touch, taste, and smell) using a variety of paradigms and techniques. Read more

Further reading:

Time Magazine: Why We Like Food That Makes Noise

New York Times: The Perfect Bacon Sandwich Decoded: Crisp and Crunchy

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