The World’s First Consumer-Friendly Chocolate Printer?

Eyes lighting up yet? A team of researchers out of the University of Exeter with Brunel University and software developer Delecam have developed the world’s first 3D chocolate printer. The technology used in their 3D printing is nothing we haven’t heard about before, as we’ve seen and heard it being used in industry to produce plastic and metal products, but according to the university’s report on it, it is the first time the principles have been applied to chocolate.

3D printing can be broken down to a pretty simple understanding — a three-dimensional object is produced by building up successive layers of material. This current round of research in regards to chocolate printing presented the team a variety of challenges. Particularly the issues with Chocolate as a material that is susceptible to many heating and cooling cycles, which have to be accounted for while they integrate with correct flow rates for the 3D printing process.

The video is a few minutes too long for the average Internet audience (me), but something interesting that can be gleaned from its content is the “consumer-friendly interface” they have in store. In essence, it would be a software that would allow online retail businesses (or storefronts who implement properly) to let users upload their chocolate designs for 3D printing and delivery.

Does the idea of printing 3-dimensional chocolate get you excited?

Via: Foodiggity