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YAMAGATA UNIVERSITY · SWEL LAB · SIP PHASE 3
Gastroverse: Eating well for everyone, everywhere.
Turning stories and imagination
into experiences you can taste.
GASTROVERSE
Bringing SIP Phase 3 research into dining experiences, towards a platform originating in Japan.
Eating well for everyone, everywhere.
Starting with research on food for care settings, we aim to help everyone enjoy food and share a table. Even when age or physical condition changes what someone can eat, the pleasure of choosing a favorite dish and eating together should remain.
SWEL Lab (Soft & Wet Matter Engineering Laboratory), Yamagata University, connects ingredients, textures, shapes, recipes, content and places to eat. GASTROVERSE brings virtual and physical spaces together through the concept of the interverse.
Collaboration · Technologies · CEATEC 2026 · European events · Project · Contact
Your strengths can create new dining experiences.
These are proposals for future collaboration. We will develop them together by combining partners’ strengths with our research technologies.
| Sector | What you bring | What we could develop together |
|---|---|---|
| Food & ingredients | Ingredients, flavor, aroma and texture expertise | Foods with selectable textures; menus that highlight ingredients |
| Restaurants & tourism | Venues, accommodation and local food cultures | Dining experiences unique to a destination or venue |
| IP & content | Stories, creative works and characters | Events where visitors can taste dishes from a story |
| Amusement & toys | Play, learning, modeling and venue operation | Make-and-eat activities; themed food experiences |
| Equipment & digital technology | Fabrication, design, measurement and data | Tools for creating, designing and evaluating dining experiences |
Start with one theme and one place to test it. Together, we can assess its appeal and practical requirements before exploring a business model.
Measure texture. Shape food. Expand the dining experience.
01 · GelBiter
Measures how food responds to biting and analyzes the relationship between physical responses, perceived textures and descriptive words to inform food texture design.
Jun Ogawa, Associate Professor, Yamagata University
Exhibition support: 那須電機株式会社
02 · 3D food printing
Designs the shape, materials and arrangement of food to explore texture and ease of eating. Our research also includes 4D foods that change with temperature.
SWEL Lab, Yamagata University
03 · DRS
The Digital Restaurant System uses XR to connect physical and virtual spaces. It combines real meals with spatial experiences to broaden the enjoyment of eating.
Exhibition support: F-EAT Co., Ltd.
Photo: DRS at Expo 2025, including XR imagery
Preparing for real-world use
We also examine ethical, legal and social issues (ELSI), including food safety, accessibility, personal information and service operation.
Research collaboration: Professor Shinichi Ishikawa, Miyagi University.
Exhibition and presentation at CEATEC 2026
We will exhibit at CEATEC 2026, held at Makuhari Messe from 13 to 16 October 2026. Through technologies for understanding food texture, shaping food and connecting virtual spaces with physical meals, we will introduce the future dining experiences envisioned by GASTROVERSE.
Our exhibits will feature the food texture analysis AI “GelBiter,” a 3D food printer and the Digital Restaurant System (DRS). Visitors will also be able to explore food texture through sample tastings and evaluations.
Professor Hidemitsu Furukawa is also scheduled to give a presentation on the project’s vision and technologies, its origins in food for care settings, activities in Japan and overseas, and plans for practical implementation.
Dates: 13–16 October 2026, 10:00–17:00 (Japan Standard Time)
Venue: Makuhari Messe, Chiba, Japan
Admission: free; advance registration required for all visitors
Exhibition details and registration information (Japanese) | Press kit (Japanese)
Read about our recent activities in the event reports from the Netherlands and Hungary.
From stories to dining experiences
Our CEATEC exhibition connects fictional food with real dining experiences. See the published exhibition and press materials (Japanese) for details of the Delicious in Dungeon collaboration.
Dining across physical and virtual spaces at Expo 2025
At the Hungary Pavilion, a Budapest restaurant was recreated in a virtual space and connected with actual meals. This demonstration explored how both food and the place where it is enjoyed can shape an experience. Exhibition support: F-EAT Co., Ltd.
International exchange
We bring researchers, chefs, designers and industry together to connect food culture with advanced technology. In September and October 2026, we held GASTROVERSE events in the Netherlands and Hungary to share research from SIP Phase 3 and explore its practical applications. The events introduced dining experiences combining food texture analysis AI, 3D food printing and plant-based ingredients.
The Netherlands: GASTROVERSE at SPACE EXPO
On 29 September 2026, we held “Food Tech Special Showcase at Space Expo – Gastroverse -” at SPACE EXPO in Noordwijk, the Netherlands, next to ESA’s ESTEC. We introduced food texture analysis AI, 3D food printing and plant-based ingredients through presentations and tastings of vegan sushi and glowing ramen.
The event welcomed Japan’s Ambassador to the Netherlands, Rokuichiro Michii, alongside researchers and industry representatives. Technical presentations, tastings and conversations with participants helped us explore opportunities for collaboration and practical applications in Europe.
Hungary: GASTROVERSE at the Japanese Ambassador’s residence
On 1 October 2026, we held “Food Tech Special Showcase in Budapest” at the residence of the Japanese Ambassador to Hungary. Following opening remarks by the Ambassador, the program featured presentations, technology demonstrations and tastings of vegan sushi and glowing ramen.
Participants experienced food texture analysis AI and 3D food printing through dishes they could taste. Discussions with local participants explored collaboration between Japan and Hungary and opportunities to bring these technologies into use in Europe.
Exploring future food with MOME
Earlier the same day, Professor Hidemitsu Furukawa gave a keynote lecture at Moholy-Nagy University of Art and Design (MOME). Discussions with participants from MOME and ONYX brought together perspectives from food, design and engineering. Insights from this exchange will inform our research under SIP Phase 3.
Project information
| Program | Cross-ministerial Strategic Innovation Promotion Program (SIP), Phase 3 |
| Program area | Development of Foundational Technologies and Rules for Expansion of the Virtual Economy |
| Research focus | Innovative food for care settings using the interverse, food texture analysis AI and 3D printing, together with examination of ethical, legal and social issues. |
| Implementing institution | Yamagata University, Japan |
| Research lead | Hidemitsu Furukawa, Distinguished Research Professor, Yamagata University |
| Period | Japanese fiscal years 2023–2027 |
This research project website is maintained by SWEL Lab, Yamagata University. For information about the overall program, visit the official SIP Virtual Economy website hosted by NEDO. The official project list in Japanese provides the registered research theme.
Related research
STAR-MEALS is a separate project under the JAXA Space Strategy Fund, exploring how people can eat well and live well in space. GASTROVERSE focuses on dining experiences and their social and economic value. Dialogue across these research activities broadens our exploration of future food on Earth and in space.
Gastroverse: Eating well for everyone, everywhere.
Let’s build GASTROVERSE together.
Bring your ingredients, technology or content; offer a venue for demonstrations; contribute to evaluation and standardization; or start by sharing an idea. We welcome conversations around a single theme or a practical setting.
swel@gp.yz.yamagata-u.ac.jp
SWEL Lab, Yamagata University
Research lead: Hidemitsu Furukawa
4-3-16 Jonan, Yonezawa, Yamagata 992-8510, Japan
Related vision: a lasting foundation for collaboration
Hidemitsu Furukawa has proposed the establishment of やわらか産業共創協会 (tentative name), a foundation for collaboration beyond individual research project periods. Expressions of interest are welcome; they are not formal membership applications. This is Furukawa’s proposal, not an official university announcement or a confirmation of participation by research partners.
Read about the proposed association (Japanese)
Sharing research with a wider audience
Professor Furukawa appeared on BS TV Tokyo’s “Ima kara Science” on 18 March 2026, introducing research on the future of food with Koji Kato. Read the program announcement (Japanese).
