So what’s going on here: some designers at iJet in Yokohama, Japan wanted to surprise the staff of Lifehacker. They grabbed a tasty KFC drumstick, scanned it using a high-resolution laser scanner, and then printed it in full color, creating something that looks like a cross between a marzipan chicken part and the leg of roasted armadillo.

This is actually a test of iJet’s interesting color-printing technology that essentially squirts layers of color onto each layer. The plaster layers absorb the color very precisely, creating a print that is actually surprisingly realistic.

Don’t think you’re going to eat this thing: it’s very fragile and, although it looks greasy and delicious, like the steak in The Matrix it is completely fake.

Source: Techcrunch.com

But instead of forcing people to rely on highly processed convenience food that’s larded with additives and unhealthy levels of salt, as microwave meals generally are, they want Foodini to get more people cooking with fresh ingredients, rather than reaching for that pre-processed packet.

The Foodini 3D printer automates some of the cooking preparation process, by for instance, printing out individual ravioli instead of the cook having to make the dough and fill and assemble each individual piece themselves. It’s not replacing all the preparation required to make the meal, but it’s likely going to speed up aspects of food preparation (without necessarily sacrificing the freshness of the ingredients being used).

Currently the Foodini is at the prototype stage, with maker Natural Machines taking to Kickstarter to raise $100,000 to get the device to market. At the time of writing they’ve raised just under $30,000 with 29 days left of the campaign to run so things are looking good on the funding momentum front.

How does Foodini differ to other food-focused 3D printers? The big difference is users aren’t required to use only pre-filled food capsules.

The machine uses open capsules that users load up with foodstuffs of their choice. It’s not entirely a free-for-all of course. Food has to be of the right texture to print so it can be squeezed through the Foodini’s pipes. Ergo, that means you’re going to need to prepare those fresh chickpeas/chicken by blending into a nutrient slurry first. Yummy!

The machine can also print both savory and sweet dishes, so isn’t limited to just printing sugary candies as some 3D printers are.

The range of foodstuffs Foodini’s makers have managed to print thus far include the likes of ravioli, pizza, burgers, crackers, cookies and elaborate chocolate vases. Edible plate decorations are another option — and the decorative potential of the device is something Natural Machines is hoping will interest restaurants and food businesses.

They also say they are considering working with retailers who could prepare pre-packaged food capsules fresh in-store as an added convenience for consumers who can’t be bothered getting food to the right blended consistency to work in the device. (Getting retailers to do that without larding the capsules with the sorts of additives that might be required to ensure the prepared food remains the right consistency to squeeze through the printer’s pipes may well be a challenge, though. And if additives end up going in, the food that’s being piped out isn’t going to be quite so fresh.)

The print time per dish apparently varies depending on factors such as its complexity and the number of ingredients it contains (the Foodini is being designed to hold up to five food capsules at a time). Flatter food types can take a couple of minutes to print, while “intricate chocolate sculptures” can take 20 minutes, says Natural Machines on an FAQ on its website.

Food can be printed and eaten straight away — if it’s consumable raw or the ingredients has been pre-cooked. Or, if required, printed items can be cooked post-print before consumption.

The Foodini has a touchscreen on the front where users select the recipe they want to print, and then load in the ingredients and hit print. They will also be able to configure things like the shapes being printed, and the print layout.

Natural Machines says it’s also building a website for Foodini where users will be able to browse through recipes. And it’s planning to release APIs so third-party developers can customise recipe applications.

How much is Foodini going to cost? Early bird Kickstarter backers are being offered it at $999. Once all those pledges have gone, it’s going to rise to $1,200. Estimated ship times for those pledge levels are January 2015 but if you really can’t wait to wrap your taste buds around this paste-based future, then a $2,000 pledge will put you first in line to get a Foodini — with an estimated ship date of next October.

Source: Techcrunch.com

The company behind the project is called Biozoon Smoothfood. It’s using liquified ingredients—vegetables, carbs, meat, etc.—in the place of the ink or PLA that a 3D printer would normally use. Ingredients are inserted into the cartridges of the printer, and with the help of a binding agent, they come out as food that pretty much melts in your mouth. For now they’re making six foods: cauliflower, peas, chicken, pork, potatoes, and pasta. But more food is on the menu for the future.

The food can come out in whatever shape the software of the program has dictated. Remember, this is 3D printing we’re talking about, so the user is afforded a lot of freedom. However, Biozoon is making food items in their shapes, so it’s not much of a break from what these elderly people would probably prefer to be eating in the first place. (Read: regular food or a normal consistency).

Right now the food is made off-site, and sent to homes. But the goal is that eventually, Biozoon will be able to place printers directly in the homes. Many elderly people really need this, as they suffer from dysphagia, a condition that often plagues stroke victims, causes trouble swallowing, and could result in choking. And if 3D printing makes it so your dear grandmother never has to eat pureed beets again, we all win.

Source: Gizmodo.com

The 60-page, advert-free publication explores advances in 3D printing across a range of topics including fashion, food, design, architecture and even weaponry and archaeology.

Written by the Dezeen editorial team, Print Shift is the result of extensive research into a field of technology that is developing at exhilarating speed. We have spoken to architects, designers, scientists and researchers around the world, travelled across Europe and visited some of the leading studios and factories at the cutting edge of a technological revolution.

Source: Www.blurb.co.uk

Images above and top by Albert Sanchez.

Designed by Schmidt and generated by Bitonti, the floor-length nylon gown was made using selective laser sintering (SLS), where material is built up in layers from plastic powder fused together with a laser.

The rigid plastic components are fully articulated to create a netted structure that allows for movement. Spirals based on the Golden Ratio were applied to a computer rendering of Von Teese’s body so the garment fits her exactly.

Draped over a nude silk corset, the black-lacquered dress is cinched in at the waist and exaggerated at the shoulders, and embellished with 12,000 Swarovski crystals.

It was unveiled during an event at the Ace Hotel in New York earlier this week, as part of a showcase of products organised by 3D printing marketplace Shapeways, who printed the dress and were also behind the 3D-printed bikini we showed a couple of years ago.

Other 3D-printed fashion we’ve featured includes Iris van Herpen’s outfits shown at Paris Fashion Week. Recently 3D printing has also been used for a road-ready car design and studs for American football boots.

Photos are by Jeff Meltz unless otherwise stated.

For the first time anywhere, a work of fashion conceived and engineered in powdered nylon by the revolutionary process of 3D printing can move like a textile. On Monday evening, March 4, 2013, style icon Dita Von Teese will appear at Ace Hotel New York as a futuristic vision of the femme fatale in a gown fully realized and rendered by computers—and one that moves with all the sensuality and fluidity of its wearer. Neither pen and paper, nor needle and thread were used by designer Michael Schmidt and his high-tech collaborator Shapeways.

This groundbreaking flexible “fabric” printed straight from a computer was the result of countless hours between Mr. Schmidt and the highly expert talents of architect Francis Bitonti. “Francis was able to take my sketches for the dress, which I created specifically for Dita, and render those in the specialized language of the software,” says Mr. Schmidt. “The fluidity of the joints is all 3D-printed, layer upon layer of fine powdered nylon within the preheated chamber, based on information by the CAD file. The laser ‘sinters’ the nylon into form, a process known as select laser sintering, or SLS. It’s an articulated fabric built into the 3D print itself. It’s something that’s never been done. What Francis and Shapeways have achieved here is truly remarkable.”

That motility engineered into the sintered nylon is what sets this example of design apart from the innovative work by fashion designers who have been exploring 3D printing. Mr. Schmidt was able to realise fluidity with the very powdered nylon that has long been the hallmark of modeling by architects and industrial designers.

Forward-thinking science intersects with beauty classicism in this historic dress. “It all comes down to mathematics,” Mr. Schmidt notes, “beauty realized through mathematics.” His template was the Golden Ratio theory by 13th century theorist Fibonacci, whose formula for beauty continues to be applied by artists and scientists alike. At the core of the theory is that the spiral exists throughout nature, from a human ear to the pinecone to the galaxy.

Mr. Schmidt, in conjunction with Mr. Bitonti, applied the spiral formula to the computer rendering of the dress, in a mesh that would undulate around the body in the most feminine way possible. For this reason, Mr. Schmidt tapped longtime friend and muse Dita Von Teese, whom he deems as the consummate classical beauty. While the shape was built over a nude silk corset, most of the architecture of the silhouette, from the voluminous shoulders to the cinched waist, is the result of the hardened nylon powder. The floor-length gown moves and expands according to Ms. Von Teese’s body contours because of the netting pattern.

The printer produced 17 sections that were then hand-linked together into the dress. (Much of Mr. Schmidt’s work in sterling mesh and other materials over the years involves this time-consuming rocess.) The 3D-printed dress was then painstakingly polished and lacquered black, and then 12,000 black Swarovski crystals were hand applied to give the overall effect that finishing touch of uber glamour.

This project is featured in Print Shift, a print-on-demand magazine by Dezeen with publishers Blurb about how 3D printing is changing everything in architecture, design, fashion, food, medicine and more.

Source: Www.dezeen.com