GustaCine: Exploration of gustatory cinema and learnings from a public exhibition

This article presents a Research-through-Design exploration of taste as an interactive medium for augmenting cinematic experience. While contemporary theatres increasingly pursue sensory enhancement through audio-visual spectacle, the act of eating popcorn has remained largely unchanged and is an unconscious, peripheral activity. We present GustaCine , which reimagines popcorn as a dynamic interface through synchronized flavour transitions with a film’s emotional trajectory. Through a public exhibition study of GustaCine with 49 participants, we explored audience responses to preconfigured flavour–emotion mappings and the methodological complexities of conducting taste-based research outside laboratory conditions. In doing so, the study contributes empirical insights into gustatory engagement during film viewing, methodological reflections on public multisensory deployment and conceptual framings for gustatory cinema as a viable design space for playful human–food interaction.