A mock up of what the food printer, food replicator or personal food factory might look like. This could be the hotest kitchen appliance in ten years or so.
The brainiacs at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology are trying to make another piece of Star Trek fantasy –“the Food replicator” a reality. Couch potatoes probably remember that Star Trek characters had devices called replicators in their quarters that could instantly whip up any food they wanted at the push of a button. A group of tech geeks at something called the Fluid Interfaces Group at MIT is trying to build real life food replicator they call the food printer or personal food factory. The food printer would work much like a paper printer people would put in cartridges similar to ink cartridges that would contain the raw ingredients. The printer would then mix up the raw ingredients and cook them. The recipes would be programmed into the printer to guide the cooking processes. No word on what kind of food would be created or how well it would work. One guesses that it might be able to mix liquid foods like curries, sauces and foods. The idea here is to create an entirely automated cooking process. A working model of the Food Printer hasn’t been created yet so we don’t know if it will work. Such food replicators could change society, for example super vending machines that actually cook meals could be common place. Restaurants and fast food chains could replace kitchen staffs with replicators. This could have some catastrophic effects on the economy because millions of poorly educated people find employment in kitchens. One wonders what would happen to those people if the basic kitchen jobs disappear. One thing’s for certain it will be years before we see if this is just a nerd’s fantasy or a revolutionary change.
The brainiacs at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology are trying to make another piece of Star Trek fantasy –“the Food replicator” a reality.
Couch potatoes probably remember that Star Trek characters had devices called replicators in their quarters that could instantly whip up any food they wanted at the push of a button. A group of tech geeks at something called the Fluid Interfaces Group at MIT is trying to build real life food replicator they call the food printer or personal food factory.
The food printer would work much like a paper printer people would put in cartridges similar to ink cartridges that would contain the raw ingredients. The printer would then mix up the raw ingredients and cook them. The recipes would be programmed into the printer to guide the cooking processes.
No word on what kind of food would be created or how well it would work. One guesses that it might be able to mix liquid foods like curries, sauces and foods. The idea here is to create an entirely automated cooking process.
A working model of the Food Printer hasn’t been created yet so we don’t know if it will work. Such food replicators could change society, for example super vending machines that actually cook meals could be common place. Restaurants and fast food chains could replace kitchen staffs with replicators. This could have some catastrophic effects on the economy because millions of poorly educated people find employment in kitchens. One wonders what would happen to those people if the basic kitchen jobs disappear. One thing’s for certain it will be years before we see if this is just a nerd’s fantasy or a revolutionary change.