"Virtual reality and food: Applications in sensory and consumer science”

Virtual reality refers to the application of computer technologies to generate a realistic and immersive simulation of a three-dimensional environment that users can interact with using specialized devices. The application of virtual reality has largely increased in recent years in a wide range of fields, including education, engineering and marketing. Given that this technology can artificially create sensory experiences, its application opens interesting possibilities to better understand consumer experiences with food products. Some of the applications include the evaluation of consumers’ responses towards specific products under simulated contexts, the study of consumer purchase behavior using virtual supermarkets and modulation of sensory experiences through augmented reality. However, considering only a limited number of applications of virtual reality have been published and further research is still necessary to inform practitioners of its full potential in the field in the field of sensory and consumer science.

Food Research International is inviting authors to submit unpublished original contributions, critical review articles and short communications for consideration in the special issue “Virtual reality and food: Applications in sensory and consumer science”. Topics covered in this special issue include but are not limited to

• Application of virtual reality to study consumer food choice

• Contributions of augmented reality to understanding cross-modal interactions

• Immersive consumer studies using virtual and augmented reality

• We encourage authors to submit where possible video material as part of their paper.

Submission guidelines:

Authors are invited to submit an original manuscript, short communication or review paper for publication in a Food Research International special issue ‘Virtual reality’. Please refer to the journal\’s Guide for Authors for specific advice on how to prepare a paper (http://www.elsevier.com/locate/foodres). Papers must be submitted electronically via the Elsevier Editorial System (EES) site for the Journal – http://ees.elsevier.com/foodres – beginning in January 1st, 2017 (select SI: Virtual reality). Closing date for submissions is September 30, 2017. Review articles are particularly welcome and any inquiries regarding the content of papers should be submitted to Dr. Gastón Ares at gares@fq.edu.uy

Timelines:

January 1st, 2017: Beginning of paper submission

September 30, 2017: Deadline for paper submission

March 2017 – February 2018: Period of peer-review process

April 2018: Expected Publication