King's College London

This project investigates how virtual reality can be used to study and support responses to food-related situations. The experiment takes place in a single stylised kitchen where the environment is intentionally designed to feel playful and less confronting, even though the food items themselves remain realistic.

Participants were exposed to one of three versions of the kitchen: the kitchen alone, the kitchen with a small pink elephant acting as a gentle companion, or the kitchen with a supportive avatar offering verbal encouragement. These versions were randomly assigned so researchers could compare how different types of support influence emotional and behavioural responses during food-related exposure.

Throughout the session, the system recorded eye-gaze data and participants completed brief questionnaires about mood and their reactions to different foods. In later versions of the application, participants were able to choose which type of support they preferred, allowing for a more personalised experience.

This work contributes to ongoing research into how VR can create controlled, flexible, and engaging environments for exploring eating-related challenges and understanding the factors that shape people’s responses to food.

Watch a brief showcase of the VR application created for this project:

Further reading

Bektas S, Natali L, Rowlands K, Valmaggia L, Di Pietro J, Mutwalli H, Himmerich H, Treasure J, Cardi V. Exploring Correlations of Food-Specific Disgust with Eating Disorder Psychopathology and Food Interaction: A Preliminary Study Using Virtual Reality. Nutrients. 2023; 15(20):4443. doi: 10.3390/nu15204443