A bubble gum company in Japan–a nation conscious of the relationship between chewing and cognitive function–has invented a chewing-sensor. The sensor, invented by a Tokyo-based gum manufacturer, counts chewing rate and intensity.
“Chewing, unless you make a conscious effort, can be seen as a bit of a pain,” said Katsumi Kawai, chief marketing officer at Lotte.
“As a gum maker, this is a great concern.”
Chews are recorded by special earphones created by the gum company. Sensors within the ear pieces also record the speed and strenth of each bite.
Data is sent from the earphones to a smartphone ap that tracks chewing by time periods.
The technology can also be used to turn music on and off, which can be done by chewing in a certain pattern.
The device has been called “Rhythmi-Kamu,” a play on the English word “rhythmical” and the Japanese “kamu” (to chew).
It employs technology developed by Hiroshima City University engineer Kazuhiro Taniguchi, who said that the product pleased him and that it had “satisfying functions.”
Japan, a country that already had a belief in the connection between chewing and health, had their belief fortified by a studly last year that showed a correlation between the two.
The Rhythmi-Kamu is not bound for the commercial marketplace, but Lotte has expressed a desire for research institutions to use it to study chewing.
By Heidi Woolf