Printing Your Lunch

Monday, July 29, 2013 | Jon Foster

Over the past few years, the use and availability of 3D printers have grown exponentially. For just a few hundred dollars individuals can buy a printer and begin building and replicating numerous items right in their own home. However, what if you want your 3D printer to fabricate something more complex than a cellphone case or a plastic cup? What if you want to come home and have dinner sitting right next to the printer? Thanks to a new invention, you may soon be closer to 3D printed meals than you know.

Meet the Cornucopia, a 3D printer designed exclusively to produce food. The concept, developed by two Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) students, maybe a breakthrough in the way humans produce and consume food. Similar in many aspects to a basic 3D printer, the Cornucopia utilizes food canisters to store its ingredients, and a distribution system to layer and assemble the food. Through the addition of a mixing chamber, ingredients can be specially mixed, and accurately cooled or heated before being assembled into a finished product.

With the addition of simplicity that Cornucopia brings to the process of cooking, it also brings an entirely new frontier - one that has only recently emerged with the advent of 3D printers technology. For example, research suggests that the Cornucopia will allow for, “Entirely novel textures and flavors to be created that would otherwise be unimaginable and which are unobtainable through traditional cooking techniques.” In addition, users will also be able to manipulate the nutritional value, caloric intake, and fat content in any meal they choose to create.

Although a working model of this concept has not yet been created, its predecessor, aptly named the Digital Chocolatier, has already produced high-quality edible goods. Able to hold up to 4 different ingredients, the Chocolatier allows for the quick, efficient, and precise preparation of a variety of desserts. In using this technology, professional chefs and amateurs alike are able to create beautiful desserts with the mere push of a button.

Furthermore, the concept isn’t merely being looked at for personal and professional use, but by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) as well; they theorize that the Cornucopia could be used for food production on the International Space Station or during manned shuttle missions to outer space. Nevertheless, before you see the Cornucopia up in Space, you’re far more likely to find yourself eating a meal that may have been digitally printed. Additionally, as the technology to build and operate the Cornucopia is open-source, as in, accessible to anyone, individuals won’t necessarily have to wait to buy one in the stores - they could build one for themselves at home. For an idea of how the Cornucopia will operate, check out the video of the Digital Chocolatier in action.