Charles Spence

Prof Charles Spence is a world-famous experimental psychologist with a specialisation in neuroscience-inspired multisensory design. He has worked with many of the world’s largest companies across the globe since establishing the Crossmodal Research Laboratory (CRL) at the Department of Experimental Psychology, Oxford University in 1997. Prof Spence has published over 1,200 academic articles and edited or authored, 16 books including, in 2014, the Prose prize-winning The Perfect Meal, and the international bestseller Gastrophysics: The New Science of Eating (2017) – winner of the 2019 'Le Grand Prix de la Culture Gastronomique' from Académie Internationale de la Gastronomie. His latest book Sensehacking was published in 2021. 

Much of Prof Spence’s work focuses on the design of enhanced multisensory food and drink experiences, through collaborations with chefs, baristas, mixologists, chocolatiers, perfumiers, and the food and beverage, and flavour and fragrance industries. Prof Spence has worked extensively in the world of multisensory experiential wine and coffee and has also worked extensively on the question of how technology will transform our dining/drinking experiences in the future.