Project start: 01.09.2020
Project end: 31.08.2023
Sponsor: Development agency for agribusiness

“Witality – Wine in Virtual Reality” is a collaborative research project between the scientific community and industry experts. Participating institutions are Hochschule Geisenheim University, Department of Enology, University of Applied Science Bonn-Rhein-Sieg, Institute of Visual Computing, Pieroth Wein AG and DLG Test Service GmbH. The three year reserach project is funded by the Develpment Agency for Agribuiness. The partners are focusing on practice-oriented research on the use of virtual reality (VR) for sensory analysis of wine. The University of Applied Science Bonn-Rhein-Sieg will develop a special VR software to simulate typical locations for wine tastings, such as bars and wine shops. With smart glasses, consumers can immerse in these virtual realities. At the beginning of the project, Hochschule Geisenheim University will determine how olfactory and acoustic stimuli in VR affect the sensory evaluation of wine. To that end, the simulated situations are analyzed in comparison to an evaluation in a standardised evironment like sensory laboratories. In a next step, researchers will examine how the sensory evaluation of samples changes when they are consumed under different conditions (e.g. standard sensory laboratory, wine shop vs wine shop simulated in virtual reality). Pieroth Wein AG and DLG Testservice GmbH will test the usability of the smart glasses and software, too. The aim of the project is to provide a tool that can be used by various stakeholders in the wine industry for many different reserach questions and thus helps to open up new market segments and consumer groups.