3D-Printed Beverages, Masterfully Fed to Life by a Mechanical Arm, Utilizing Food-safe Inks
In the heart of the Expo 2025 Osaka, Suntory's robot Lidris is making waves with its unique ability to create 3D art inside beverages. The robot, resembling a robotic arm, is serving glasses of lemonade adorned with intricate 3D drawings of the official Expo 2025 Osaka character, MYAKU-MYAKU, at the Suntory's Park Café pavilion.
Lidris' art is not just visually appealing; it's also safe to consume. The inks used by Lidris are food safe and made from natural pigments, ensuring that the art inside your drink is as safe as it is stunning.
The technology behind Lidris is a marvel of multidisciplinary science. The robot uses a compact drawing device, roughly the size of a coffee machine, featuring a robotic arm with a precise nozzle. This nozzle dips into the beverage and deposits controlled amounts of the edible inks layer by layer, creating intricate 3D illustrations that float suspended inside the liquid.
The beverage itself is specially formulated for proper viscosity and flow, ensuring that the injected inks hold their shape and the 3D image stays intact for over an hour indoors, even if the glass is gently moved or shaken.
Lidris' technology combines robotics, food science, and fluid mechanics to allow real-time creation of designs, controlled via a tablet interface with instructions for the robotic arm. The system also allows for adjustments in flavours, colours, and alcohol content, adding customization beyond visual art.
The artwork created by Lidris is not only visually striking but also harmless to the environment. The resulting images can last over an hour indoors, even with gentle movement or shaking of the glass. With a size of 50-centimeter square, Lidris is designed to be suitable for various locations such as homes, cafes, and event venues.
The exact availability of Lidris for commercial use is not yet confirmed, but one thing is certain: Lidris represents a new dimension in the beverage industry, where 3D art inside a beverage is appreciated as more than just a novelty. It's a testament to the power of technology and innovation to transform ordinary beverages into immersive artworks.
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- At the Expo 2025 Osaka, events like the unveiling of artificial-intelligence-powered gadgets such as Suntory's robot Lidris, which creates stunning 3D art inside beverages, showcase the integration of technology and art.
- The versatility of Lidris, an AI-enabled gadget, lies in its ability to create safe and edible art while offering customization options for flavors, colors, and even alcohol content, revolutionizing the beverage industry and turning ordinary drinks into immersive art events.
