Over the past couple of years, the use of VR in different fields such as entertainment, education and training has dramatically increased. However, little is known on how we can use VR around food and our eating experiences which can affect our health and well-being. Thus, the focus of this thesis is to explore the applicability of eating in VR. Wearing a head-mounted display (HMD) while trying to eat virtual food and real food simultaneously is a challenging task. To address these issues, two user studies were conducted – a feasibility and a usability study.

Eating is a multi-sensory experience, but what makes it different from any human activity is how reliant it is on the chemical senses, particularly the olfactory sense for flavor perception. Knowing this, it is important to investigate the effects of olfactory cues and as well as food interaction in VR. Hence, the feasibility study explored the effect of the addition of olfactory cues to food exposure in VR in the development of food cravings. Methods of this study was adapted from VR Cue-Exposure Therapies. Our results show that olfactory cues, paired with visual cues, can further increase food cravings. Meanwhile, the combination of visual, olfactory and interaction cues did not.

The usability study explored the possibility of eating in the virtual and real world simultaneously. Mechanically, the two primary ways in which we eat are either using our hands or using utensils. The experiment was designed with these two food interactions (one using bare hands and one using utensils) coupled with two levels of hand fidelity (high and low). Participants were asked to eat marshmallows using our VR setup and usability and the sense of presence were measured. The results showed that high-fidelity, bare-handed food interactions performed best compared to its low-fidelity counterpart and to food interactions using a utensil. This study concluded that such interaction may have performed well due to the type of food being eaten. In addition, the eating utensils we used for real-world dining may not necessarily be applicable in VR. Thus, designing future food interfaces for VR should consider these points.

Inevitably, eating and food interaction in VR is still underexplored territory and further research is needed to improve utility and applications related to food and eating.