Kalsec partners with Thimus to launch T-Box, an AI-powered taste evaluation platform

T-Box uses a sleek headset with electromagnetic sensors that receive brain signals emitted from sensory reactions to food. Using AI, the data from T-Box is collected and monitored with the goal of creating a more comprehensive and potentially universal language of food sensory perception.

“There is a big discussion on food waste, food loss, because it is an objective way of characterizing food quality [and] it would be a way to find deterioration levels of certain foods and help us in shelf-life studies,” Maria Tzoumaki, director of discovery and open innovation at Kalsec Global, told FoodNavigator-USA.

T-Box premiered at the new House of Humans facility at Wageningen University & Research in the Netherlands. The facility will be one of several global locations providing access to sensory neuroscience for industry research, product development, reformulation and testing.

Enhanced heat perception​

T-Box allows Kalsec, which specializes in capsicum, "to capture nuances in heat perception across regions and cultures," Mark Staples, VP global marketing at Kalsec, told FoodNavigator-USA.

Staples added that T-Box brings Kalsec's expertise in heat “to the next level" and "helps our customers really understand the different aspects of taste and especially heat." He pointed out the regional and cultural differences in heat preference based on results from Kalsec's global consumer surveys, and T-Box will provide a more nuanced understanding and opportunities in different parts of the world.

Revolutionizing sensory evaluation with neuroscience​

Tzoumaki pointed out that using T-Box's neuroscience technology "will be something disruptive for us" given the company and the industry has relied on traditional human sensory panels to determine taste experiences. While the need for human taste evaluators is critical, T-Box will "take all of their emotions directly from their brain, expressed in electromagnetic signals" for a more accurate and objective result without relying solely on verbal communication.

Staples explained Kalsec's new approach to sensory evaluation as "three legs of a stool" made up of an expert sensory panel of humans, custom consumer research, and now T-Box. "It is taking all of those pieces and painting a much clearer picture of what is possible," he said.

Pioneering a new era of sensory research​

While Kalsec's research with T-Box sets the company up as a pioneer in sensory research, Tzoumaki predicts other companies will follow suit, which will help the industry develop a common language around sensory perceptions and the potential to reduce food waste.

Kalsec's House of Humans lab positioned itself at Wageningen University "to work hand in hand with the expertise of the university, which is the leading food research university ... arguably [in] the world," Staples said.

An academic and business partnership​

Staples and Tzoumaki added that the partnership is an academic and business pursuit surrounding food technology and applications.

"This is about growing the opportunities for all, but having Kalsec being there and being able to help forge that new direction, that innovation, is something that we are excited about," Staples said.

The company will begin online training for T-Box through the summer with the goal to implement it "on real cases and real projects," Tzoumaki said.