Changing drinking behavior and beverage consumption using augmented reality

Abstract

The main aim of this paper is to investigate whether our augmented reality (AR) system (which changes the appearance of a cup) can implicitly change individuals’ beverage consumption via affecting volume perception for long periods. Recent studies have revealed that the consumption of food and beverages is influenced by both their actual volume and external factors during eating and drinking. Previous research has confirmed that the apparent height of the cup is a vital factor in changing drinking behavior with regard to one sip. Therefore, in this paper, we conducted a user study to confirm whether our AR system can change drinking behavior and beverage consumption and whether the effect can be sustained over the course of one hour. The results showed that the total amount of beverage consumed in one hour can be changed from about –14% to about 25% compared to normal. By comparing this result and that of previous research, we showed that the total beverage consumption in one hour is proportional to the amount consumed in one mouthful, and the effect of our method on changing the total beverage consumption continues over the course of one hour.