Now, a 3D printer to serve you food

By siliconindia   |   Monday, 27 December 2010, 18:59 IST
Printer Print Email Email
London: Technology has made our world easier in more than one way. With the convergence of technology these days, you can expect one gadget to do several jobs, away from what it is actually meant to do. A case in point here would be a printer that will serve you food. Don't believe it? Read on. The scientists at Cornell University, New York are in the process of developing a 3D food printer that will have ink in the form of raw food. How it will work is the raw food ink is fed into the printer and then you need to load the recipe of the desired food item and just click a button. And there you have your food ready. An electronic blueprint guides you as to where will each material be placed. It is created by using computer aided design (CAD) software. The Daily Mail quoted Dr. Jeffrey Ian Lipton on the working of the printer, "FabApps would allow you to tweak your food's taste, texture and other properties. Maybe you really love biscuits, but want them extra flaky. You would change the slider and the recipe and the instructions would adjust accordingly." The scientists have tasted success with the printer with food items like cookies, cake and 'designer domes' made of turkey meat. A chef in Chicago, Homaro Cantu, has printed sushi out of an ink jet printer. Cantu said, "You can imagine a 3D printer making homemade apple pie without the need for farming the apples, fertilising, transporting, refrigerating, packaging, fabricating, cooking, serving and the need for all of the materials in these processes like cars, trucks, pans, coolers, etc." Cantu believes 3D printing will do for food what e-mail and instant messaging did for communication.