UMA tableware, designed by HAK Studio, is a project that goes beyond the traditional understanding of design. Its aim is not just aesthetics or functionality, but real support in recovering and enhancing the taste experience. It is a response to the growing problem of the loss or impairment of the sense of taste, which affects the elderly as well as COVID-19 patients. According to research, up to three in ten people experience impaired taste perception after contracting coronavirus, and among seniors, a third struggle with deterioration of sensory function.
The UMA project grows out of gastrophysical science, the science that studies the relationship between the brain and the act of eating. Professor Charles Spence’s research shows that taste is not just the result of the taste buds, but the result of a complex process involving all the senses. Colour, shape, sound, temperature or the material of the dish can enhance or even create the illusion of taste. The brain forms expectations even before food enters the mouth, which means that appropriately designed tools can make a dish with reduced sugar content appear sweeter, or one with reduced salt content appear more pronounced.
Using this knowledge, HAK Studio has created two plates designed to intensify the perception of sweet and salty flavours. Their form and texture were developed to visually and tactilely enhance specific sensations. They were inspired by the images generated in Midjourney, which evoked the illusion of taste in participants without food during a study involving twenty people. It was this visual experience that became the starting point for the design of the dishes.
The studio is currently working on further elements of the tableware to intensify umami and sour flavours, without the use of monosodium glutamate or citric acid. This is a step towards healthier eating, where salt, sugar and artificial additives are reduced, while still maintaining a full culinary experience.
UMA is not only a design project, but also a manifesto for a new approach to food. It shows that taste can be shaped through a multi-sensory experience, and that properly designed tableware becomes a therapeutic and aesthetic tool at the same time. At a time when more and more people are struggling with the loss of taste, UMA offers hope for its recovery – not through pharmacology, but through the conscious use of science and design.
The UMA project was recognised in the make me! 2025 organised in conjunction with the Łódź Design Festival.
design: HAK Studio (Żanetta Korsak, Paweł Lasota)
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