Atomium, il replicatore di cibo

Ogni anno Electrolux premia i progetti concettuali più interessanti e creativamente stimolanti per gli elettrodomestici del futuro nel suo Design Lab. Si tratta per lo più di progetti basati su tecnologie totalmente teoriche che servono soprattutto come esercizi mentali per ampliare gli orizzonti e le frontiere del design. Quest’anno il vincitore è MAB, un sistema di pulizia basato su uno stormo di nano-robot, ma uno dei progetti più interessanti – almeno dal nostro punto di vista – è Atomium, un replicatore per stampare in 3D il cibo a livello molecolare.

Atomium ci offre così una prima opportunità per elaborare la differenza tra una stampante 3D e un vero e proprio replicatore: la prima stampa co materiali solidi (plastiche, metalli, cemento, tessuti biologici, fibre eccetera) mentre il secondo stampa assemblando le molecole, come, appunto, in Star Trek, dove addirittura si parte dell’energia pura per creare atomi e molecole. Atomium fa proprio questo: l’idea della sua creatrice, Luiza Silva Bachelor of Design della Federal University of Technology- Parana, Brazil, è stampare cibi di qualsiasi forma partendo dalle principali molecole che compongono i nostri alimenti, creandoli in base alle preferenze dell’utente (cioè di chi li mangerà).

Il prodotto si rivolge soprattutto ai bambini, aiutandoli a instaurare un rapporto “amichevole” con il cibo anche in famiglie in cui i genitori non hanno tempo sufficiente per seguire le abitudini alimentari dei figli. Attraverso l’identificazione per impronte digitali, Atomium accede poi a un database di informazione medico-sanitarie e preferenze per impostare la composizione molecolare ideale del cibo.

Qui sotto trovate la descrizione di Atomium in lingua originale dal sito di Electrolux Design Lab

1. SUMMARY
Atomium is a food 3D printer that develops meals based on the users’ desires of flavor and shape of their food.The kids show a sketch or an object to create the desired aesthetic meal.
Atomium will recognize this object/sketch by scanning it and then print it, choosing molecular ingredients to construct nutritional balance for user´s body, based on user´s medical data.
The home appliance is a concept that stimulates children to have a health meal and to prepare their own food. The product uses a fingerdigital identification to recognize the user and connect itself with newest personal data, such as medical checkup and daily activities that can influence the nutritional balance of the user´s body.
2. DESCRIPTION
The concept Atomium is based on a future trend of family’s behavior. In the future the family’s woman and man will be busier with their works, jobs and appointments; therefore they will have limited time to take care of their kids. This fact leverages on children’s care, such as, in education and home activities.
Thus children will need to learn how to develop activities at home prematurely, such as filling their daily time and preparing their own food. However, in parallel with this last fact there is the common culture of “kitchen is not a safe place for children”.
Atomium helps children to prepare their food in a safe way, letting parents free from preoccupation and can make a nutritional balance of the child´s requested meal through the user´s fingerdigital identification.
The concept Atomium is a product that also tries to solve social interaction problems: children involvement and family integration. The first interaction between children is motivated by the experience exchange of Atomium use, though discussion of flavor decision, aesthetic development and ways of eating. The second interaction is the family integration process.The process of cooking and eating in family is divided by steps and tasks, which segregate the family’s moment. The mother has to cook two kinds of meal, one for the adults and other for the kid; and after that has to give food and take care of the child while the father is eating. For the child, eat is a boring activity that is made as an obligation.
Below are the interaction use context of Atomium:
1. Poking the machine is the way of turning it on. Atomium will shine, showing the inside lights. Though touching the product, it automatically recognize the user and identify his personal data, such as medical checkup and daily activities. These data are analyzed by the machine to construct a nutritional and healthy food for the child.
2. User/Child will pronounce to the machine his desired meal flavor, by saying it aloud
3. User/child will show/do to Atomium a draw, picture, sculpture or object for the desired aesthetic of the food and the product will prepare the meal based on the information showed. The product can also identify orders by visual and sonorous requests.
4. Though understanding the user’s wish, Atomium will connect this information to the personal data identified. That way will construct the meal by choosing molecular ingredients to make a nutritional balance meal for the better health of the user.
The product makes possible to socialize the food preparation, by discussing flavor, texture and aesthetic of each member of the family. Though using the creativity of all members to create the food the process incentivize the integration of the family in the meal moment, by motivating the constructing of food as well as the pleasure of eating by all members of family (including kids).