Future Fruit Simulator: A Customisation Interface for 3D Food Printing

Future Fruit Simulator

Future Fruit is a fully operational food customisation interface. From the Future Fruit BioLab you can access tools to create futuristic fruit based on actual plant development processes before sending it to a 3D Printer.

 

Future Fruit  was recently developed at HUB Studio an experimental media lab at the Queensland University of Technology, Australia. Initially, researchers from both the Design and Science faculties collaborated to prototype a fruit modeling system to experiment with genetic modification specifications. However, the design team quickly realised that the modeling system we had created had the potential to be integrated with a 3D food printer. Future Fruit is potentially a playful way to deliver custom designed food with the addition of flavours and vital nutrients to people living in remote locations or in places where certain deficiencies are identified.

 

Future Fruit has been made with game development tools and approaches and subsequently can be accessed via normal desktop computers, touchscreens and also in virtual reality. Before commencing the design and development phase of Future Fruit, a Design Thinking Workshop was held at the School of Design with participants from Plant and Food New Zealand, Institute for Future Environments and HUB Studio.

Design and Development Blog

HUB Studio Project

At HUB Studio we take a Design Fiction (DesFi) approach which involves visualising future scenarios to design and build testable prototypes inspired by  scientific theories and emerging technologies.

Funding / Grants

  • Catapult Program, Institute for Future Environments (2016 - 2017)

Team

Prof Roger Hellens
Programming - Ryan Quagliata
Technical Art - Wade Taylor
Graphical Production - Sarah Quijano

Partners


 

Future Fruit Demonstration – Video on Vimeo

 

A selection of Future Fruits designed with the new interface on a multitouch display
Future Fruit Simulator at the World Science Festival 2017.
A 3D Printed model of a Silver pear designed and printed from the Future Fruit Simulator