The future of food through the eyes of the designers and artists of tomorrow.

Mela: Measuring Chocolates

Mela is a project by Maria Apud-Bell. The British designer is investigating how many scientific health monitors people are literally willing to swallow.

Research into the microbes residing in our gut has become increasingly important, because a good balance of gut bacteria has a measurable positive impact on our overall health. It’s not unlikely that someday soon we’ll be able to accurately predict health conditions, enjoy a completely personalized diet, and fine-tune our ideal microbial balance. Mela infuses chocolate with a bacterial cocktail aimed at shoring up imbalances. One type of chocolate helps against stress, another combats fatigue, while a third takes on insomnia.

Pink Chicken

Studio Leolinnea from London, England is all about speculative & critical design. Their ‘Pink Chicken Project’ is designed - with a serious wink - to show just how much influence humans have on nature.

Chickens are the most common bird on earth. Each year we kill over 60 billion of them for food. No wonder then, that their bones leave their mark on the earth’s surface. Studio Leolinnea genetically modifies chickens to turn their bones and feathers pink. This way, when these remains are fossilized, the Anthropocene bedrock gets a hint of pink color in it.

SAM: Autonomous Soda

SAM, short for Symbiotic Autonomous Machine, is a project from designer Marie Caye. At SAM you can order a soft drink, and pay by card. The installation even has its own bank account.

SAM autonomously decides what to serve you. This is Marie Caye’s way of experimenting with both machine autonomy, and breaking a lance for the rights of autonomous technology.

SAM is both artificial and organic. The machine intelligently controls recipes, prices, maintenance, service, and labor. Human intervention only happens as a last resort. Concepts like profit and greed are foreign to SAM. The machines sells at cost, pays back what it owes, and manages its own bills through online banking.

Read the other stories about the designing in the Food Inspiration Magazine: The Internet of Food.