Aug 10 2010Don't Tell Cookie Monster!: Magical 'Meta Cookie' Tastes Like Your Favorite Flavor

Sure you have to wear this ridiculous hat, but that's a small price to pay to taste any flavor cookie you want. God I hope it comes preloaded with all the Girl Scout flavors! Plus pot brownies! Kidding, they always end up tasting like shit.

Scientist Tajuki Narumi and a team from the University of Tokyo created this unusual contraption called the "Meta Cookie". The device combines augmented reality software with a camera and head-mounted display to project a simulated image of the cookie of your choice onto a host cookie (for texture). Then, air pumps blow the aroma of a specified cookie directly into your nostrils, convincing your brain that you're eating a totally different cookie.

There's a thirty-second video explaining the technology again after the jump, but you've got to admit this is pretty awesome. We're one step closer to eating all our meals in pill form! Oooor having a friend blow diarrhea smell up your nose while you're eating crackers. Win/winvomit!

Hit the jump for the short video.

flavor-changing meta cookie: willy wonka gets real [technabob]

Thanks to Jessie, who once bought a box of every kind of Girl Scout cookies and ate them all in an evening. That...sounds healthy.

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