Kimberlyn Cho- Looking Outwards 12

The first project I found as a precedent for my final project is a virtual dining experiment by Heston Blumenthal and Marshmallow Laser Feast back in 2016. This event provided visitors with a groundbreaking experience of dining in a virtual reality. The software itself uses tracking technology, and real-time motion capture for a “multisensory, mixed-reality cuisine”.

The second project is a game I was inspired by for this final project. Cooking Mama is a classic game by Office Create originally released for the Nintendo DS in 2006. It simplifies the cooking process for a variety of menus, which users choose to simulate. The game provides users with a platform to cook using interactions between the touch screen and the stylus. One opportunity the game might’ve overlooked however is the potential to become an educational software. If the game had used accurate recipes and a slightly more complex and realistic process and representation, the game could’ve easily been further developed to be used as practical tools for use in the kitchen. However, the game had its own characteristics because of its inaccurate representations and recipes that made the simplified game more appealing to the general public.

I found the two projects similar in that both provide a digital experience in regards to food. While the first project may be more accurate and realistic, Cooking Mama emulates the experience through the stylus interactions, sound effects, and visual depictions of real food. Even though the first project focuses on the dining experience while the second targets the cooking experience, both programs provide users with a virtual experience with food to simulate the actual act of dining/cooking.