Augmented Reality Flavor Mapping System: Sensory Compensation and Cognitive Training for Olfactory and Gustatory Impairments

Abstract

Olfactory and gustatory impairments have become increasingly prevalent in recent years due to COVID-19, neurodegenerative diseases, and aging, significantly impacting individuals’ food perception and overall quality of life. Compared to traditional interventions such as medication or olfactory training, digital health solutions empowered by internet technologies offer more interactive and scalable pathways for sensory rehabilitation. This study presents the development of a personalized flavor mapping system based on Augmented Reality (AR), designed to establish a visual-symbolic mapping between flavor attributes and user perception, thereby providing an alternative sensory experience and training mechanism for individuals with chemosensory disorders. The system encodes basic flavor characteristics using visual elements such as color, shape, and motion, creating an immersive and interactive experience. A user study involving 30 participants evaluated the system across four dimensions: Flavor Perception Training (FPT), Emotional Engagement (EMO), Agency of Perception (ACT), and Usage Intention (USE). The system’s effectiveness was validated through descriptive statistics, Wilcoxon signed-rank tests, Spearman correlation, and regression analyses. Results indicated positive feedback across all dimensions, with significant correlations between flavor training, emotional engagement, and usage intention, suggesting that emotional response may serve as a key mediator for user interaction motivation. The findings demonstrate the feasibility of AR-based flavor mapping systems in digital health interventions and highlight their potential applications in rehabilitation, health management, and socially supportive care through future integration with internet technologies and multimodal sensory platforms.