Sushi Singularity: A 3D Printed Meal Engineered for You

- from our blog on Medium!

When you make a reservation to Sushi Singularity in Tokyo, you will receive a glossy, white package in the mail. It’s a health kit containing all of the tools needed to send the restaurant your biological samples — specifically, your saliva, urine, and feces. After your samples are analyzed, you will be branded with a Health ID. Then, based on the nutritional needs indicated by your biodata, the perfect meal will be engineered for you. When you arrive at the restaurant, 3D printers and robotic arms will assemble your dinner right before your very eyes.

This Murakami-esque concept is set to become a reality in 2020, and represents the furthest extreme of a growing trend towards personalized consumer experiences. Sushi Singularity is one of many hyper-futuristic endeavors by Japanese company Open Meals — other concepts include a database from which you can download and print food, and a "pixel food printer". Plans for the restaurant debuted SXSW 2019, where patrons got a first look of the dystopian “food fabrication machine” that dispenses “edible, flavor-infused gel.”

Consumers have been increasingly willing to let brands use their data to provide personalized products and recommendations. Sharing your browser history and taking surveys have become typical customer experiences — but how willing are you to let go of your biological data to say you had a unique meal? As companies find new ways to capitalize off of our own footprints, concerns regarding health and privacy loom ominously over our heads.