The Virtual Cafeteria: An Immersive Environment for Interactive Food Portion-Size Education

ÇELİKCAN U., Bulbul A. S., Aslan C., BÜYÜKTUNCER DEMİREL Z., IŞGIN ATICI K., EDE G., ...More

3rd Workshop on Multisensory Approaches to Human-Food Interaction, Colorado, United States Of America, 16 October 2018 identifier identifier

  • Publication Type: Conference Paper / Full Text
  • Volume:
  • Doi Number: 10.1145/3279954.3279960
  • City: Colorado
  • Country: United States Of America
  • Keywords: Multisensory Nutrition Education, Portion Size, Adolescents, Food Interaction, Virtual Reality, CONSUMER RESEARCH, EATING PATTERNS, REALITY, OBESITY
  • Hacettepe University Affiliated: Yes

Abstract

This work introduces the Virtual Cafeteria, a novel virtual reality simulation of a buffet-style cafeteria for use in food portion-size education of adolescents as an alternative to established approaches such as verbal education and education with fake food replicas. As user behavior is automatically recorded to the millisecond, the application also serves as a tool for assessment of food portion-size perception. The Virtual Cafeteria offers a wide range of energy and nutrient densities in 64 food and 7 beverage options. Addressing the limitations and shortcomings of the immersive environments used in previous studies on food portion-size, the Virtual Cafeteria features not only a considerably wider variety of food but also multisensory feedback coupled with a high level of interaction and photorealism, and imperceptible latency.