3D printing set to rustle up delectable savouries

With thousands of products on display at the International CES (Consumer Electronics Show [CES]) gadget show what took the cake for the oddest among the assorted gizmos came in the form of edible, origami-like sculptures made of sugar with such impossibly convoluted shapes as to baffle the eye, AP reports.

Candy printed by the ChefJet or ChefJetPro 3-D printer by 3D Systems. Picture by: 3D Systems.

The delectable offerings came as signs that 3-D printing revolution would also have some rather savoury gastronomic impact. Bon apetit.

Moreover, the delectable part is is that the phenomenon would not remain the plaything of engineers and tech enthusiasts alone but would also take a lot more in its sweep, the report said. 

The sugar savories on display were courtesy the ChefJet Pro, the first commercial, kitchen-ready food printer. It is shaped like an oven, and deposits sugar layer by layer in a tray, and then melts the parts intended for the sculpture with water to solidify much like sugar in a bowl hardens with moisture.

Ink can be selectively added to the water to render the sculptures in full colour, a feature sure to set the minds of wedding and party planners spinning.

Among the gastronomical geometric sculptures was a wedding cake supported by a delicate lattice-work tower of sugar that would not be possible to make by conventional means.

There were only a handful of 3-D printing companies at the gadget show last year, but this time around there were 30, and the organisers had to turn others away as they could not fit them in. The 3-D printing area of the show floor attracted huge crowds that gawked at the printers and their creations, ranging from toys to tea cups to iPhone cases.

Meanwhile, Xinhua reports that with thousands of products on display, the flavour of the show which ended on Friday Friday was undoubtedly new technologies.

"From curved and flexible Ultra HD TVs and next-generation smart phones, to drones, robots, sensors, the internet of everything, Hi-Res audio, connected cars and 3D printers, it seems like the only thing missing from the 2014 CES was a time-travel machine,"

Xinhua quoted Gary Shapiro, president and CEO of Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) as saying, from cured and flexible Ultra HD TVs and next-generation smart phones, to drones, robots, sensors, the internet of everything, Hi-Res audio, connected cars and 3D printers, the only thing missing from the 2014 CES was a time-travel machine.

According to the CEA, the 2014 CES stood out as the largest in its history, with a record 186,000 square meters of exhibit space housing more than 3,200 exhibitors. The show was attended by over 150,000 industry professionals, which included over 35,000 from outside the US.