3D printing technology is extremely fresh, and most people are still in the process of understanding how it works, and what it can be used for. Nonetheless, students at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have already taken it to the next level. The Cornucopia is a printer that works as a personal food factory. It is able to print food from specified ingredients, with no waste at the point of cooking.

The process begins with selecting the required food canisters in which ingredients are stored and kept refrigerated. They are then fed into a mixing chamber, which deposits them in layers of various and complex combinations of ingredients. The ingredients are then cooked or cooled, and voila! You’ve just printed a cake, or a lasagne, you choose!

The food printer is still a concept, and is still under the design stage, but it doesn’t change the fact that this type of technology could be so helpful in the future! Can you imagine how much time it would save, being able to pre-program the printer to have the food ready at a specific time.

We would like to see this printer linked up to smartphones and tablets; maybe linking it to a database of different recipes. You could decide what you are going to eat in the office, and send the order through to your printer at home.

You could also use the database to cook the food based on the nutritional facts, making it extremely easy to account for your daily caloric intake, allowing for a completely new weight loss strategy.

What are some of the things you would use this technology for, or would like to see added as a feature? Let us know in the comment section below!