#programmable materials

Transformative Appetite

Programmable Material project from MIT Tangible Media Group can design flat pasta which changes its shape whilst being cooked:

We developed a concept of transformative appetite, where edible 2D films made of common food materials (protein, cellulose or starch) can transform into 3D food during cooking. This transformation process is triggered by water adsorption, and it is strongly compatible with the ‘flat packaging’ concept for substantially reducing shipping costs and storage space. To develop these transformable foods, we performed material-based design, established a hybrid fabrication strategy, and conducted performance simulation. Users can customize food shape transformations through a pre-defined simulation platform, and then fabricate these designed patterns using additive manufacturing. Three application techniques are provided - 2D-to-3D folding, hydration-induced wrapping, and temperature-induced self-fragmentation, to present the shape, texture, and interaction with food materials. Based on this concept, several dishes were created in the kitchen, to demonstrate the futuristic dining experience through materials-based interaction design. 

Programmable Materials "Could Change the World of Mechanics Forever"

Researchers from Empa and ETH Zurich have developed a prototype of a selective vibration-damping material that they claim “could change the world of mechanics forever” as a step toward “programmable materials.”

Described in the journal Advanced Materials, this “material of the future” can damp mechanical vibrations completely or selectively suppress specific vibration frequencies or ranges of frequencies.

The one-dimensional working model consists of a simple aluminum sheet-metal strip, measuring one meter by one centimeter and one millimeter thick and designed to vibrate at different frequencies. To control the wave propagation through the plate, ten small aluminum cylinders (7 mm thick, 1 cm high) are attached to the metal. Between the sheet and the cylinders sit piezoelectric discs, which can be stimulated electronically to instantly change their thickness. That allows for controlling exactly how waves are allowed to propagate in the sheet-metal strip.

The aluminum strip thus turns into an “adaptive phononic crystal” — a material with controllable vibration properties.