Ultrasonic Cuisine: Proposal of Ultrasonic Non-contact
Stirring Methods
Yuta Sato
University of Tsukuba
s.yutassie@gmail.com

Kensuke Abe
University of Tsukuba

Kotaro Omomo
University of Tsukuba

Ryota Kawamura
University of Tsukuba

Kazuki Takazawa
University of Tsukuba

Yoichi Ochiai
University of Tsukuba

Figure 1. Left:The acoustic radiation force generated at the focal pointof the ultrasonic phased array can stir the liquid. Right:We believe that
our study will extend kinds of usage scenes of ultrasonic phased arrays
and make them familiar to our lives.

ABSTRACTIn this paper we propose a method of non-contact stirring.
Ultrasonic waves have been studied for various applications.
However, devices using ultrasound have been devised only to
specialize in one role up to now. In recent years, we aim at
generalization of aerial ultrasonic equipment used for various
applications such as tactile presentation and super directional
speaker, and propose applications closely our real life.
Author Keywords

Ultrasonic; Ultrasound; stirring

stirring method of liquid. Harada et al. [1] clarify that it ispossible to swell dry matter without missing umami by utilizing ultrasonic waves, and demonstrate that ultrasonic irradiation is useful for food processing. Katou et al. [3] proposed the method to stir liquids in a vessel without contact
by using a radiation pressure of ultrasound waves. In addition to these studies, ultrasound cooking utensils include
UP200Ht - Handheld Ultrasonic Homogenizer (hielcher ultrasonics gmbh), and so on. These are the devices that makeit possible to emulsify and ripen liquid by ultrasonic vibration. In UP200Ht - Handheld Ultrasonic Homogenizer, thetransducer and metal are brought into tight contact, and theliquid is ultrasonically vibrated by placing them in it directly.
In this products, the medium is used between the transducer
and liquid so that the air is not caught.
Uragami et al. [5] conducted experiments to irradiate ultrasonic waves from the outside of the container against waterin the internal vessel of 4 x 5 x 30 mm small vessel. Ochiai
et al. [4] also conducted the research on tactile presentationin the air with powerful aerial ultrasound waves. In our lives,
it is very rare for us to put the liquid in such a container withsmall volumes and stir it, or require tactile presentation by ultrasound waves. Therefore, in this study, we try to stir a cupof liquid in order to consider how to utilize ultrasonic waves
effectively at home using ultrasonic arrays.

ACM Classification Keywords

J.4. SOCIAL AND BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES (e.g. HCI):
Miscellaneous
INTRODUCTION

Ultrasonic waves have been studied for various applications
such as washing, cutting, degassing, atomization of moisture,and component extraction. Since speakers and tools using ultrasonic waves have appeared, they are gradually becoming
familiar to us. In this study, we generate ultrasonic waves in
the air using ultrasonic arrays and consider the non-contact

This is the author’s version of the work. It is posted here for your personal use. Notfor redistribution.
UIST 2017, October 22–25, 2017, Quebec City, QC, Canada.
Copyright c 2017 Association for Computing Machinery.
ACM ISBN 978-1-4503-4981-9/17/10$15.00
https://doi.org/10.1145/3131785.3131801

METHOD

Hoshi et al. [2] fabricate the prototype consisting of 285 airborne ultrasound transducers and produce a stress field in a
3D space by controlling ultrasonic waves with the device.
It enables a tactile display that provides unrestricted haptic
feedback in air without any mechanical contact. The ultrasonic phased array creates a spherical synthetic wave by arranging ultrasonic speakers in an array and oscillating ultrasonic waves while shifting the phase from each array. This
allows the focal point of the ultrasonic wave to be freely controlled. The generated force at the array’s focal point is up to
16 mN.
In order to agitate the surface of the liquid without contact
by utilizing the acoustic radiation force generated by soundreflection, we gradually injected the liquid while irradiating its surface with the focal point of the ultrasonic phasedarray. The acoustic radiation force is generated by pressure differences between mediums by the reflection of sound

AB

CD

Splash of liquid↑↑↑↑↑↑
Focal point

Experiment

Water

Alcohol

Figure 2. A: Experimental environment. B: Experimental scene comparing splashed height of each liquid by ultrasonic waves. C: In the case of redcolored water. D: In the case of red colored alcohol.

Focal pointwith time. In this study, it can be minimized by inflicting seasonings into foods at high speed by the action of ultrasonicwaves.
CONCLUSION

Figure 3. By amplifying the scent when you drink or eat some foods, you
can enrich your own experience about eating and drinking.

waves. Since acoustic waves have a property of totally reflecting at boundary surfaces between mediums with acoustic
impedance largely different from each other, so they reflect
at the boundary surface between the air and water (the ratioof these acoustic impedance is 0.0004:1.5) and acoustic radiation pressure is generated. This creates waves on the surfaceof the liquid and allows for agitation of the liquid. It is also
possible to scatter the flavor of the dish or impregnate themeat with a sauce by raising the power of the array to ripple
the liquid surface and scatter droplets.
In the experiment, we placed an array on a table using anacrylic plate and irradiated with ultrasonic waves obliquely
to the liquid surface, so we made a spiral flow and stirred theliquid by shifting the focus from the center. Figure 2 showsa photograph comparing the splashed height in the case ofwater and alcohol. The difference between specific weightsof the liquids makes a difference in the splashed height.
FUTURE WORK
Spread flavor with mouth

Foods and drinks such as a truffle and wine can enrich thetaste by there flavors. As we could observe the phenomenon
that the flavor was diffused to the surroundings by applying
ultrasonic waves, we will establish this ground and propose
application that we can enjoy everyday meal more by ultrasonic device. Figure 3 is an image of flavor diffusion.
Infiltrate seasonings into ingredients

By irradiating with ultrasonic waves, the effects of ”cavitation pressure”, ”deaeration action”, ”promotion of capillary
phenomenon by material vibration” work to promote seasoning infiltration into foods. It usually takes time to infiltrateseasonings into foods, but degradation of foods progresses

In this study, we proposed new applications about an ultrasonic device which had only been recognized as a superdirectional speaker, as cooking tools to help everyday cooking and amusements to amplify the pleasure of meals. Regarding the stirring of the liquid, its ingredients are scatteredwhen strong ultrasonic waves are applied to it which has alight specific weight like alcohol. To the contrary, if ultrasonic waves are weak, the liquid cannot be sufficiently stirred.
In addition, it is necessary to stimulate the boundary surfaceof the liquid separated vertically due to the difference in specific weight for stirring, but there is a problem to stir onlythe surface. When alcohol was stirred, it was scattered, so
it was easy to reproduce the taste like that after shaking theliquid.By considering the specific gravity of the liquid, it ispossible to stir thoroughly by injecting liquid while irradiating ultrasonic waves.
REFERENCES

1. Harada, S., and Itsumi, A. A basic study of cooking
utilizing ultra-sonic waves : Hydration and extraction ofdry ingredients. Bulletin of Toyama Collage 41 (2006),
39–45.
2. Hoshi, T., Takahashi, M., Iwamoto, T., and Shinoda, H.
Noncontact tactile display based on radiation pressure ofairborne ultrasound. IEEE Transactions on Haptics 3, 3(July 2010), 155–165.
3. KATOU, H., MIYAKE, R., and TERAYAMA, T.
Non-contact micro-liquid mixing method usingultrasound. JSME International Journal Series B Fluids
and Thermal Engineering 48, 2 (2005), 350–355.
4. Ochiai, Y., Kumagai, K., Hoshi, T., Hasegawa, S., andHayasaki, Y. Cross-field aerial haptics: Rendering haptic
feedback in air with light and acoustic fields. In
Proceedings of the 2016 CHI Conference on Human
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5. Uragami, T., Osumi, A., and Ito, Y. Behavior of liquid ina vessel irradiated by high-intensity aerial ultrasonicwaves. Proceedings of Symposium on UltrasonicElectronics 36 (2015).