Possible Design Principles for 3D Food Printing

This paper proposes "Possible Design Principles" for food experiences of the future using a 3D food printer (3DFP). In the last decade, design research has expanded into the food sector. However, an issue is that many of these studies are ephemeral experiments on food experience, even though food is something we consume every day. On the other hand, in terms of 3DFP as one of the emerging food technologies, most studies focus on improving the quality of the printed matters but not on users' mental models for making sense of 3DFP. Hence, in this study, autoethnographic methods were applied to investigate "a life of eating 3D printed meals every day" for two months to document a user's experiences and emotions. We conducted weekly interviews between the first author and the third author to reflect and analyse the data objectively. Several participants helped analyse the interviews and autoethnography to explore possible design principles for the daily use of 3DFP. Finally, this paper clarifies the "Three Possible Food Design Principles" required in the future of food using the emerging technology. In addition, this paper provides suggestive ideas for the future of food itself, interactions, and services with the insights and explanations derived from the research.