Food that has been 3D printed may not sound all that appealing, but as the technology advances we will begin to find an ever 
increasing acceptance of food which has been extruded from the nozzle of one of these machines. Back in January, I was able to test out candy, printed on 3D Systems’ ChefJet, and have to say it was quite delectable. Now there is a huge difference between 3D printed flavored sugar, and a 3D printed chicken substitute, in terms of mental preparation prior to ingesting it, but this is the direction in which we are eventually headed.
In the future, not only will the food portion of our meals be 3D printed, but the utensils, plates, and even the salt and pepper shakers may be as well. Imagine a time when you can sit down at a table, and have a robot serve you a meal which has been entirely 3D printed. You then use your 3D printed fork to eat your 3D printed chicken, and wash it down with water you drink from your 3D printed cup.
The team behind Reimagine Food
By the end of this year, we will no longer need to imagine such a scenario. Two companies, Reimagine Food and GGlab are teaming up to produce two simultaneous events which will take us all into the future. On December 3rd of this year, there will be two meals served, one in New York City and the other in Barcelona Spain. What makes these meals different from any other in history, is that they will almost entirely be 3D printed. That’s right, the food, utensils, dinnerware, and all. To make things even more interesting, the meal will be served by a sophisticated robot called REEM. REEM, built by PAL Robotics, stands 1.7 meters high, uses predictive intelligence, and is connected to the internet so that it can predict what menu items are most likely to be desired by each person dining.
The REEM Robto
According to Reimagine Food, the total cost of both meals will come in at approximately 150,000€ (about $200,000). Further details on how many people will be attending each event, and the exact locations have yet to be announced.
Reimagine Food is located in Barcelona, and was founded in 2013 by Marius Robles and Joaquin Serra. The company has been researching both digital gastronomy, and the 3D printing of food since their launch. They have been working with Natural Machines on the 3D printing aspects of their research.
GGLAB, short for Green Geometries Laboratory, was founded by Andres Arias Madrid, José Ramón Tramoyeres, and Sangyup Lee. Founded in 2008, they are located in Valencia Spain, as well as London, England, and concentrate their efforts on independent research pertaining to environment and culture.
It will certainly be interesting to see how these meals turn out, and exactly what kind of food will be served. Would you consider attending such an event? Let us know in the 3D printed dinner forum thread on 3DPB.com
