Professor Charles Spence
Professor of Experimental Psychology; Head of the Crossmodal Research Laboratory, Department of Experimental Psychology; Fellow of Somerville College
About
Professor Charles Spence is interested in how people perceive the world around them and in particular how our brains manage to process the information from each of our different senses (such as smell, taste, sight, hearing and touch) to form the extraordinarily rich multisensory experiences that fill our daily lives. His research focuses on how a better understanding of the human mind will lead to the better design of multisensory foods, products, interfaces and environments in the future. His research calls for a radical new way of examining and understanding the senses that has major implications for the way in which we design everything from household products to mobile phones, and from the food we eat to the places in which we work and live.
He has consulted for a number of multinational companies advising on various aspects of multisensory design, packaging and branding. He has also conducted research on human-computer interaction issues on the Crew Work Station on the European Space Shuttle. He and his group are currently working on problems associated with the design of foods that maximally stimulate the senses. His group also has a very active line of research on the design of auditory, tactile and multisensory warning signals for drivers and other interface operators (together with Toyota). Professor Spence is also interested in the effect of the indoor environment on mood, well-being and performance (together with ICI).
Expertise
- Attention and stimuli from different senses (eg hearing, sight, touch, taste, smell and pain)
- The selective processing of sensory signals and the development of guidelines for the effective design of multimodal user interfaces (for example, the use of mobile phones whilst driving)
- The psychology and cognitive neuroscience of food design
- Consumer psychology and product design
- Cognitive psychology and man-machine interaction
Selected publications
- Digital dining: New innovations in food and technology (2025)
- Sensehacking: How to use the power of your senses for happier, heathier living (2021)
- Gastrophysics: The New Science of Eating (2017)
- Gastrodiplomacy: Assessing the role of food in decision-making (2016)
- Effects of Lightness-Location Congruency on Consumers’ Purchase Decision-Making (2016)
- Colour-taste correspondences: Designing food experiences to meet expectations or to surprise (2016)
Media experience
Professor Spence has extensive media experience, both nationally and internationally, and across broadcast, print and online. His work is frequently featured in the international media and he is a regular contributor to BBC Radio 4's The Kitchen Cabinet.
Recent media work
- Why do foods like Dubai Chocolate 'blow up' online? (BBC News, 2025)
- Music makes curries taste 10pc spicier, scientists find (The Telegraph, 2017)
- Airlines Aim to Trick Your Taste Buds at 30,000 Feet (the New York Times, 2017)
- Bad mood? New app senses emotion and suggests food to lift spirits (The Telegraph, 2016)
- Taste of chocolate can CHANGE 'depending on what music you are listening to' (Express, 2016)
- How sounds can make your food taste different (The Boston Globe, 2016)
- Would you like some Taylor Swift with your spring rolls? Study identifies songs that make food taste better... but Justin Bieber ruins it all (Daily Mail, 2015)