Aesthetic emotions in a mixed reality gastrosonic experience: an exploratory study

Abstract

We examine the emergence of aesthetic emotions in an exploratory study on a mixed reality (MR) gastrosonic experience. Participants in an art-science event completed the AESTHEMOS questionnaire on aesthetic emotions and the Multimodal Presence Scale, reporting a wide spectrum of prototypical, pleasant and epistemic emotions. Food enjoyment was correlated with the prototypical aesthetic emotions of fascination and enchantment and feelings of self-presence were correlated with the prototypical emotions of being moved/in awe. Crossmodally matched food was highly congruent with music and visuals. Our findings suggest the relevance of studying environmental aesthetics in the context of these novel eating situations.