Abstract 3D vector artwork made for a soft drink company. Artwork rendered and edited in Photoshop.

A UK-based company has invented and unveiled a 3D Fruit Printer, a machine that “prints” three-dimensional “fruit”. It is not, however, actual fruit: instead, it’s a sort of reconstituted version that can be any flavour.

The printer uses a molecular gastronomy technique called spherification for converting liquid to a series of gelatinous globules resembling caviar or tapioca pearls. For fruit juice, this means mixing the juice with alginic acid.

This mixture is then dripped into a cold bath of calcium chloride; the resultant reaction produces a skin around the ball of liquid, which pops when you bite into it (although you should really rinse it off first).