It's probably not the best invention in COVID times, and neither is it an Aprils fools joke. A television that allows you to smell what is on the screen. Professor Homei Miyashita of Japan's Meji University developed a screen equipped with a flavor dispenser. This is a prototype lickable TV screen

Taste the TV (TTTV) is a device that utilizes a carousel of ten flavor canisters that spray in combination to create the flavor of a specific cuisine. The flavour sample is then rolled onto sanitary film and placed in front of the viewer on a flat TV screen for them to try. This type of technology, according to Meiji University professor Homei Miyashita, can improve how people connect and engage with the outside world in the COVID-19 period.

"The objective is to enable individuals to have the experience of eating at a restaurant on the other side of the planet while remaining at home," he explained.

Miyashita collaborates with a group of roughly 30 students on a variety of flavor-related gadgets, including a fork that enhances the flavor of food. He stated that he constructed the TTTV prototype over the course of a year and that a commercial version would cost approximately 100,000 yen ($875) to produce. 

Miyashita has also been in discussions with companies about applying his spray technology to other applications, such as a gadget that can impart a pizza or chocolate flavor to toasted bread. He also intends to create a platform where consumers can download and experience tastes from around the world, similar to how music is presently.

One Meiji student demonstrated TTTV for reporters, telling the screen she wanted to taste sweet chocolate. After a few tries, an automated voice repeated the order and flavour jets spritzed a sample onto a plastic sheet.

"It's kind of like milk chocolate," she said. "It's sweet like a chocolate sauce."

Japanese scientists develops Taste option for television.