I Have Decided to Go Look for My Father

The judge who sat in the middle was the first to talk. They commented, “Your topic is quite nice.”

The comment wasn’t affirmative but his approval for Gu Xi’s team’s topic was easy to spot.

Pausing, the judge changed a subject. They pointed at the model and said, “It seemed that your current model can only, let’s call it ‘transmit’. Transmit 5 tastes and smell. That seemed a little weak. We all know that the composition of food smell and taste is very complicated.”

Gu Xi nodded when she heard the judge’s question. She replied honestly. “You are right, Teacher. Truth was, the smell and taste transmission as described in our topic is a lot more complicated and detailed. That is beyond the scope of our prototype. We just want to create this to demonstrate it in a visible manner and to proof that the idea is feasible.”

Gu Xi’s answer was neutral and the judges were happy with that answer.

Another judge chimed in. “I also have a question for you then. As your project progresses, both the smell and taste of food are complex compositions. The taste of food in particular. Smell is relatively easier. All you need to do is to release the substances of the smell proportionally. As such, how do you plan on carrying out the taste part as described in your subject and allow users at the terminal be able to really feel it?”

Being asked this question, all three on stage paused to think for a little while.

Then, Sheng Xiuyan said, “They are theoretically the same. The carrier of smell is air. As such, we will only need to find the carriers for the taste, such as solid sugar or liquid oral spray.”

Tagging onto what Sheng Xiuyan was saying, Gu Xi supplemented, “As for the texture of the food, we can achieve that by using electromagnetic wave equipment to stimulate the oral nerves within a reasonable range.”

Their answers were sort of what the judges had expected but not exactly.

It was what they were expected in the sense that that was also their thought process. It was also unexpected as the judges did not expect the two junior high school students to be able to come up with that idea and that their logic was sound.

“I have no further questions,” said this judge.

“I do have one more question,” said another judge. “Your design targets a device for the general public. An overly complicated design might bright about a very large piece of equipment, like a treadmill. It takes up a lot of room, its cumbersome and useless. Has that ever occurred to you?”

Hearing the question, Gu Xi gave it some thought, nodded, and said confidently, “I trust that the future design would not be too gigantic.”

Gu Xi gave an example as she talked. “Very much similar to the development of computers, technological advancements, we are able to shrink the size of a computer from 160 square meters to the size of a cellphone. Our design will also be able to reach the size of a cellphone in the future and be a complete light-weight add-on.

“Besides, even with our current technology, the chip and the sensor components that we are using in our current model can shrink to 5~10% of their current size. Many of the supplementary parts can also get into the millimeter range.” That was something that Gu Xi had read on Gu Shao’s notebook in his study one day.

If Gu Shao had that written down, the components must already exist.

As she spoke, Gu Xi wasn’t sure whether it was her imagination. She had a feeling that she saw Gu Shao on site in the area of the back control room.

It must have been a mistake on her part.

Gu Xi shook her head silently and grumbled to herself.

Gu Xi had wanted Gu Shao to be there to observe today but, first of all, the segment today was not opened to the public and, secondly, Gu Shao had a very important meeting to attend to today. So Gu Xi had to give up on that idea.

The judges on site were happy with Gu Xi’s answer albeit a little surprised.

“Alright, that’s all the questions that we have. Thank you.”

“Thank you, Judges and Teachers.” The three of them bowed to the judges one more time and walked out of the venue.

The result of their defense would not be announced for another three days.