Cornell’s computational synthesis lab has created software tools that allow engineers to create edible objects using complex geometries that even a skilled chef would have a great deal of trouble creating by hand. A souped up 3-D printer allows creative culinary types to create pureed pastes of their ingredients that can then be layered onto one another via special extruding heads, much as conventional rapid prototyping machines print thin layers of plastics, metals, or glass.

So far the team has printed with all kinds of ingredients: cheese, chocolate, hummus, turkey, celery, scallops, etc. Which begs the question: if you could print anything out of, say, any two ingredients, what would you print?

Ever noticed the magical hand gestures that Chris Angel and David Blaine use? Appling their knowledge and art to the good old kitchen faucet will make a real sorry show, unless you use the “Spatial Interaction” touchless kitchen tap! Touch-less as it gets, air-skim your hands in a gesture as to draw out water and pesto…the flow begins. Magic in your hands control everything, temperature, flow, speed, stream, but unfortunately this trick is restricted to the kitchen.
What we are seeing here is a prototype that was built with an enclosure milled out of a single block of Corian. Besides emphasizing on the touch-free (or less if you prefer) aspect, the design also speaks of hygiene. The faucet is controlled by *meaningful gestures and the shape of the tap supports this aspect.

*Meaningful gestures mean that the action required to control a function of a product need to be coupled to that function. In other words, if I want water to come out of the tap I perform a gesture along the side of the tap towards me, as if I am dragging the water out or saying ‘come to me’. If I want the water to stop running I perform the same gesture away from me, as if I am pushing the water back into the tap.

Even that most basic of kitchen appliances, the humble teakettle, is getting a high-tech makeover in the form of Breville’s One-Touch Tea Maker. The fully programmable unit takes the guesswork out of brewing that perfect cuppa by providing the right water temperatures and brewing times to suit different tea varieties. The device even does the “jiggling” for you thanks to a fully automated tea basket that moves up and down to gently agitate the leaves to precisely infuse your tea.

Selecting the tea type determines the brew temperature. For example, more delicate tea leaves such as Green, Oolong and White tea benefit from a lower temperature. The Tea Maker comes with five preset tea types for Black, Green, Oolong, White and Herbal tea, while a customizable tea type temperature setting can be used for other tea varieties or to suit personal tastes.

Next comes the tea strength selection, which lets users scroll between Strong, Medium, or Mild tea brews. The LCD panel will display the recommended brew times to achieve the selected brew strength for the tea type selected.

Once you’ve made your selections a press of the TEA button gets things cooking. When the water hits the ideal temperature the tea basket auto-lowers with its load of tealeaves – no tea bags here thank you. The tea basket is attached magnetically to the jug post for silent auto-steeping and to allow the water to circulate freely around the tealeaves for maximum infusion. Variable steeping times based on the selected strength ensure the tea basket auto-raises at the correct time to prevent over-steeping.

If one cup isn’t going to be enough and you plan on coming back for more the Keep Warm feature does just what its name suggests – it keeps the tea’s temperature for up to one hour. Additionally, if you like waking up to the aroma of a freshly brewed cup, the AutoStart feature makes beginning a brew at a pre-selected time as easy as setting an alarm clock. The unit consists of a stainless steel tea basket and German-made Schott glass kettle with 51 oz (1.5 liter) water capacity.

Unfortunately the perfect cuppa doesn’t come cheap.

Selecting the tea type determines the brew temperature. For example, more delicate tea leaves such as Green, Oolong and White tea benefit from a lower temperature. The Tea Maker comes with five preset tea types for Black, Green, Oolong, White and Herbal tea, while a customizable tea type temperature setting can be used for other tea varieties or to suit personal tastes.

Next comes the tea strength selection, which lets users scroll between Strong, Medium, or Mild tea brews. The LCD panel will display the recommended brew times to achieve the selected brew strength for the tea type selected.

Once you’ve made your selections a press of the TEA button gets things cooking. When the water hits the ideal temperature the tea basket auto-lowers with its load of tealeaves – no tea bags here thank you. The tea basket is attached magnetically to the jug post for silent auto-steeping and to allow the water to circulate freely around the tealeaves for maximum infusion. Variable steeping times based on the selected strength ensure the tea basket auto-raises at the correct time to prevent over-steeping.

If one cup isn’t going to be enough and you plan on coming back for more the Keep Warm feature does just what its name suggests – it keeps the tea’s temperature for up to one hour. Additionally, if you like waking up to the aroma of a freshly brewed cup, the AutoStart feature makes beginning a brew at a pre-selected time as easy as setting an alarm clock. The unit consists of a stainless steel tea basket and German-made Schott glass kettle with 51 oz (1.5 liter) water capacity.

Unfortunately the perfect cuppa doesn’t come cheap.The Breville BTM800XL One-Touch Tea Maker will set tea lovers back US$250.