Design with time in phygital food experiences

Phygital food encounters – defined as the integration of physical ingredients and rituals with digital cues and computational media – are progressively shaping collective eating practices. Nonetheless, their impacts on temporality and commensality are under-theorized. This study conceptualizes time as a material component within phygital meals, understanding it not merely as a quantitative measure but as an experiential and social dimension that can be orchestrated through the interaction of food transformation, ritual sequencing and digital signalling. Drawing on theoretical frameworks from food experience design, multisensory perception and mediated forms of commensality, we propose a model of phygital temporal choreography. This framework is delineated through three fundamental constructs: temporal carriers, temporal choreography and attentional architecture. Utilizing a Research-through-Design (RtD) approach, this investigation analyses two contrasting practice-based cases. The analysis proposes that time either functions as a material temporal carrier – through oxidation and ambient audio cues that foster shared pacing, thereby exemplifying phygital synchronization – or it does not. Results from both cases suggest that the perception of commensality is highly dependent on the modality and placement of digital cues: ambient scaffolding can foster shared rhythm and presence, while attention-capturing cues may fragment the sense of ‘we-time’ into parallel, individualized streams. This article presents: (1) a transferable vocabulary and framework for constructing temporality within phygital gastronomic experiences; (2) a mechanism-based distinction between synchronization and fragmentation, representing two configurations of phygital temporal design and (3) design implications aimed at ethically choreographing attention and shared temporal experiences within technologically saturated dining environments. Phygital gastronomy accentuates a temporal conflict between socially negotiated meal rhythms and the asynchronous, accelerated tempos characteristic of digital platforms, thereby positioning temporality as a critical material in design.