Inflated Appetite

MIT Media Lab

February 2016

MIT Media Lab blog article to tell more stories behind the class
As part of human evolution and revolution, food is among the earliest forms of interaction we had with matter, yet has remained unchanged from ancient to modern times. How about engineered and programmable food materials? With that, food can turn its role from being passive to being active. Food can “communicate” using its inherent behaviors combined with engineering accuracy. Food becomes media and interface.

During a MIT winter course we initiated and taught, we encourage students to design pneumatic food. Students successfully implement inflatable sugar and cheese products. To solidify the inflated food, we introduce both oven and liquid nitrogen, both heat and coldness.
We hosted a MIT wide open reception as the final outcome of the class - "Inflated Appetite". We transformed the MIT Media Lab atrium into an open kitchen. Inflated food focusing on either flavors or forms are demonstrated and served. In addition, we had pizza with tessellated cutting patterns via a physical food compiler (food printer and plotter) we developed.