Tangible User Interfaces - Fall 2011

Improving wine-tasting experience

Members: Travis Yoo, Sebastian Fuenzalida

Attachments: Sketch 1, Sketch 2 (we'd like to use sketch 2)

"Our Kono Sauvignon Blanc showcases great aromatics of citrus, gooseberries and passionfruit within a typically powerful and flavor filled palate. Packed with juicy, ripe fruits, this wine has focus and purity with fresh natural acidity and a long, crisp and dry finish."

This is a description about the bottle of wine that I'm holding now. By reading the description, can you imagine how this one tastes and smells like? It says "aromatics of citrus, gooseberries and passionfruit", but do we have any idea how those aromatics smell like?

Our project aims to improve wine-tasting experience in this aspect. An user provides a name of wine to the user interface on the computer, and then our system identifies what aromas are contained in the wine using our wine database. Now she can know what aromas exist in the wine and select one of them to actually smell in the wheel presented in the sketch.

Our first mockup would be much simpler, focusing on the proof of concepts. We are planning to use 3~6 different aromas (selected based on the "Aroma Wheel"[2]) and a database that contains aromas of several wines. The wheel will be designed to provide a rich experience to users, using a servo motor and aromas. We'll manually make wine aromas and put them in the wheel. 

References

[1] How to Make Your Own Wine Aroma Study Kit: http://www.winespectator.com/webfeature/show/id/42734

[2] Aroma Wheel: http://liquidtiedye.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/AROMA-WHEEL.jpg