Crossing senses with Professor Charles SpenceSeeing senses: Sight, flavour and how expectation reshapes experience“None of us believe that our senses affect us as much as, in fact, the evidence shows that they do.” Professor Charles SpenceWhat if your eyes are misleading your tongue?In this episode of Seeing Senses, experimental psychologist Professor Charles Spence joins Sarah to explore how our senses cross paths more often than we think. From pink yoghurt that tastes sweeter to the name that changes ice cream from sweet to salty, he reveals how the brain uses sight to predict flavour, and how even trained wine tasters can be fooled.They discuss the dominance of vision in taste perception, the pitfalls of unexpected packaging, and why a pencil and paper sometimes beat brain scans in his lab. It’s a science-rich journey into crossmodal perception, showing how our expectations shape experience across food, design, and daily life.//Listen if you're curious about:How colour influences flavourWhy vision overrides taste more often than we realiseWhat crossmodalism really means in everyday perceptionWhy blind tastings and disconfirmation reveal hidden biasesHow to design better multisensory experiencesWhy even experts fall for sensory illusions//Key themes & takeaways:Visual cues shape flavour perception, often before we tasteCrossmodalism explains how the senses work in combination, not isolationSight dominates—even among expert tastersColour, context, and packaging set powerful expectationsSensory illusions are common, and often go unnoticedMemory and perception are linked, especially around foodDesigning for the senses can create more memorable, effective experiencesExpectation can override reality, even in flavourSimple tools often reveal more than high-tech equipmentThe senses influence us more deeply than we admit//Guest:Professor Charles Spence is a world-famous experimental psychologist who specialises in neuroscience-inspired multisensory design. He’s worked with many of the world’s largest companies, focusing on the design of enhanced multisensory food and drink experiences through collaborations with chefs, baristas, mixologists, chocolatiers, perfumiers, and the food & beverage and flavour & fragrance industries.//Bonus for multi-sensory thinkers:Head to Seeing Senses on Substack for updates and extras.You’ll find sense-hacking experiments and book recommendations from the guests. Become a paid subscriber to support the making of this podcast (with extra episodes and content).//Host:Sarah Hyndman is a designer/researcher, author and speaker. You can book her for a talk or workshop about Multi-Sensory Thinking here via Type Tasting. Sarah is the founder of Type Tasting, curator of The Sensologists and author of the bestselling book Why Fonts Matter (Penguin/Virgin). Seeing Senses. Where there’s more than meets the eye. //Theme music by AudioKraken. Thank you to Radim Malinic for the inspiration to make a podcast, and to podcasters Mili Tharakan, Klaudia Mitura and Suze Cooper for your generous advice. This episode is dedicated to the life of my friend Moira Parker. 

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