[jfengel]

This is neat, of course. But not only does it miss the smell component (which is probably 90% of flavor), but it also misunderstands the temporal nature of taste. There's a reason not all all sour things taste the same sour, and why sugar substitutes are so difficult to get right.

Your perceptions of them rise and fall at different rates, and you're very sensitive to that. It's the reason a diet soda often tastes very good for the first sip, but tastes weirder once it's left your mouth, and subsequent sips don't taste right. Different molecules attach and detach from your taste cells differently, and that makes a big difference.

The article compares it to the first phonographs, and maybe that's apt: the first phonographs are barely recognizeable as the human voice. This will be barely recognizeable as flavors. I've got a sneaking suspicion that it will take longer than it took to get the phonograph right.