The effect of real-time vibrotactile feedback delivered through an augmented fork on eating rate, satiation, and food intake

Abstract

Eating rate is a basic determinant of appetite regulation, as people who eat more slowly feel sated earlier and eat less. Without assistance, eating rate is difficult to modify due to its automatic nature. In the current study, participants used an augmented fork that aimed to decelerate their rate of eating. A total of 114 participants were randomly assigned to the Feedback Condition (FC), in which they received vibrotactile feedback from their fork when eating too fast (i.e., taking more than one bite per 10 s), or a Non-Feedback Condition (NFC). Participants in the FC took fewer bites per minute than did those in the NFC. Participants in the FC also had a higher success ratio, indicating that they had significantly more bites outside the designated time interval of 10 s than did participants in the NFC. A slower eating rate, however, did not lead to a significant reduction in the amount of food consumed or level of satiation. These findings indicate that real-time vibrotactile feedback delivered through an augmented fork is capable of reducing eating rate, but there is no evidence from this study that this reduction in eating rate is translated into an increase in satiation or reduction in food consumption. Overall, this study shows that real-time vibrotactile feedback may be a viable tool in interventions that aim to reduce eating rate. The long-term effectiveness of this form of feedback on satiation and food consumption, however, awaits further investigation.

Effects of eating with an augmented fork with vibrotactile feedback on eating rate and body weight: a randomized controlled trial

“…Our results confirm and extend findings from a previous (lab) study with the 10sFork [10], in which vibrotactile feedback from the fork had a significant effect on both bite rate and success ratio in a single meal, but with the latter effect much more pronounced: effect sizes (Cohen's d [19]) showed a small to moderate effect of the vibrotactile feedback on bite rate, whereas effect sizes for success ratio point at a moderate to large effect of vibrotactile feedback on success ratio. The finding that the effects of bite rate and success ratio remained significant for the experimental conditions at an eight-week follow-up measurement shows that feedback from digital technology has the potential to bring about long-lasting changes in eating rate.…”

“…Furthermore, body weight was assessed at three time points; at baseline (T1), directly after the 4-week intervention period (post-intervention, T2) and at a follow-up after eight weeks (T3). Based on the evidence regarding the effectiveness of feedback to disrupt habitual behavior [7] and our previous work on the efficacy of the augmented fork to decrease eating rate [9,10], we hypothesized that frequent use of the augmented fork would lead to longer pauses and therefore a slower eating rate, which may translate to weight loss.…”

A smart utensil for detecting food pick-up gesture and amount while eating

“…Since the vibration and light feedback on the 10s fork did not change the fast eating behavior significantly [55]. It appears that feedback mechanisms embedded into the smart eating utensils have not yet been effective.…”

“…To tackle poor eating habits in a non-clinical context, numerous technologymediated interventions have been developed on various platforms, such as websites [121], video games [155], mobile and wearable devices [79], and smart tableware [55]. These emerging solutions leverage a variety of persuasive technologies [38] as well as strategies to ultimately improve users' eating habits.…”

“…wristbands [79,80], smartwatches [77], and smart forks [55]) often provide vibration to disrupt a user (i.e., positive punishment by providing undesirable stimuli).…”