Food printer

This sounds like it could be amazing. Just think how many McGriff threads this bad boy could inspire.

http://www.physorg.com/news199080001.html

(PhysOrg.com) -- US scientists have introduced a concept design of the "Cornucopia" or Digital Fabricator, a "personal food factory" able to print food from specified ingredients, with no waste at the point of cooking.

The food printer is at the concept design stage, and would work by storing and refrigerating ingredients and then mixing them, cooking layers of the mixture and printing them onto a serving tray. The concept design was introduced by two graduate students at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Fluid Interfaces Group Media Lab: designer/engineer in algorithmic image process development Amit Zoran, and designer and research assistant Marcelo Coelho.

The researchers say the printing process brings cooking technologies into the digital age and allows entirely novel textures and flavors to be created that would otherwise be unimaginable and which are unobtainable through traditional cooking techniques. They say users would be able to control the nutritional value, quality and flavors in each meal through a touch-screen interface and Internet connectivity, which would allow them to manipulate parameters such as carbohydrate or fat content and calories. The design also allows for the food printer to be able to automatically order new ingredients and suggest an alternative ingredient if one runs out.

3D printers already exist (see, for example, PhysOrg’s article on 3D printers for moon bases and the affordable desk top 3D printer). The printers are becoming more common and are already being used in applications such as creating three-dimensional prototypes or models.

The researchers hope their concept will "provide a glimpse at the new aesthetic and cultural possibilities, which can be brought forth by a new, digital gastronomy."

This is incredibly IDM... and just plain weird.

i had a feeling this was coming, since finding out about 3d printers. singularity here we come, huh?

While this might have a market and sounds kind of neat, it will never replace regular food as we have it now (obviously). Especially when something that makes certain foods great is the presentation of it at nicer restaurants. Cooking can actually be pretty fun too.

  On 7/24/2010 at 8:03 AM, Xyrofen said:

While this might have a market and sounds kind of neat, it will never replace regular food as we have it now (obviously). Especially when something that makes certain foods great is the presentation of it at nicer restaurants. Cooking can actually be pretty fun too.

never say never...:)

Isn't most packaged food already made more or less this way? Hot dogs, pringles, etc etc.

  On 7/24/2010 at 10:47 AM, lumpenprol said:

Isn't most packaged food already made more or less this way? Hot dogs, pringles, etc etc.

does not compute!!

seriously though, imagine McGriff with one of those things. He'd be like Claude Debussy on cubase. I'm torn between whether watmm would be literally full of McGriff threads about food or if we'd simply never hear from him again.

this is like a star trek replicator thing

i will fully embrace this technology when it hits the market.

can't wait until all i have to eat is pills and delicious nutritional paste.

  On 7/24/2010 at 8:03 AM, Xyrofen said:

Cooking can actually be pretty fun too.

lol you're like 15 or something right?

cooking can be fun though essines - think of BBQs in the snow. With beer.

no i mean cooking is awesomely fun. mostly because it means you'll have food to eat. i love cooking, do it all the time. saying it "can be fun" makes it seem abhorrent. though i know for many it's an obligation of sort.

oh. lol.yeah damn subtleties of spoken language not being transmitted in text.