Augmenting food with information

Eating is not only one of the most fundamental human needs but also among the most regular activities. Acquiring food, preparing meals, and socializing around food are deeply rooted in all human cultures. In this paper we show how food can not only serve to satisfy hunger but also become a new display technology. Through food augmentation, a dinner could communicate its ingredients, convey messages, or provide instructions such as the recipe of a meal. We show how to augment a large range of food with laser. We conducted a series of focus groups to gather people's first impressions and derive a broad range of meaningful augmentation scenarios. We discuss the perceived benefits, opportunities, and concerns. Additionally, we evaluated a number of scenarios through an online survey. The most readily accepted augmentation scenarios include adding practical information, increasing awareness about the food, and augmenting food items with a natural skin.