Digital Dining: New Innovations in Food and Technology

by Charles Spence, Carlos Velasco

Overview

From the earliest stone tools to the latest AI-driven innovations, our relationship with food has always been shaped by technology. In “Digital dining: New innovations in food and technology”, Charles Spence and Carlos Velasco explore how emerging digital tools and technologies, such as smartphones, 3D printing, artificial intelligence, robots, and extended reality, are transforming the way we prepare, consume, and experience food. Diving into the intersections of tradition and innovation, culture and science, this book offers a thought-provoking journey through the world of gastrophysics and multisensory experience design. Will digital technology enrich our culinary experiences or erode the human touch? With insights from leading experts, real-world applications, and a critical lens on the ethical and cultural implications, this book invites readers to explore the tantalising possibilities and challenges of a rapidly changing food landscape. Whether you are a researcher, food enthusiast, a tech innovator, or a curious thinker, this book will provide you with a new lens to see, taste, and experience the future of food.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9783031910494
Publisher:	Springer Nature Switzerland
Publication date:	07/12/2025
Pages:	334
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.25(h) x (d)

About the Author

PROF. CHARLES SPENCE

Professor Charles Spence is a world-famous experimental psychologist with a specialization in neuroscience-inspired multisensory design. He has worked with many of the world’s largest companies across the globe since establishing the Crossmodal Research Laboratory (CRL) at the Department of Experimental Psychology, Oxford University in 1997. Prof. Spence has published over 1,200 academic articles and edited or authored, 16 books including, in 2014, the Prose prize-winning “The perfect meal”, and the international bestseller “Gastrophysics: The new science of eating” (2017; Penguin Viking) – winner of the 2019 Le Grand Prix de la Culture Gastronomique from Académie Internationale de la Gastronomie. His latest book Sensehacking was published in 2021. Much of Prof. Spence’s work focuses on the design of enhanced multisensory food and drink experiences, through collaborations with world-leading chefs, baristas, mixologists, chocolatiers, perfumiers, and the food and beverage, and flavour and fragrance industries. Prof. Spence has worked extensively on the question of how technology will transform our dining/drinking experiences in the future, and has been profiled in The New Yorker (http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/11/02/accounting-for-taste).

ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR CARLOS VELASCO

Carlos Velasco is associate professor at the Department of Marketing, BI Norwegian Business School (Norway), where he co-founded the Centre for Multisensory Marketing. Carlos received his D.Phil. in Experimental Psychology from Oxford University, after which he worked in a number of postdoctoral and consulting projects in Europe, Asia, and North and South America. His work is situated at the intersection between Psychology, Marketing, and Human–Computer Interaction, and focuses on understanding, and capitalizing on, our multisensory experiences and their guiding principles. Carlos has published over 100 academic articles in these fields and has authored or edited eight books. Recently, he co-wrote the book "Multisensory experiences: Where the senses meet technology" (Oxford University Press). Carlos has worked with a number of companies from around the world on topics such as multisensory experiences, food and drink, branding, and consumer research. For more information, visit https://carlosvelasco.info/

Table of Contents

Preface.- Introduction to digital gastronomy.- Gastroporn.- Digitally-representing flavours and AI-recipe creation: Possibilities and pitfalls.- What role robots in gastronomy?.- Digital commensality.- What future 3D food printing?.- Digital gastronomy in the home.- Food experiences in extended reality.- Immersive digital food experiences throughout the customer journey.- Digital storytelling & gastronomy.- What is the future of digital gastronomy?.