Something new and delectable for you today. Small Multiples, a data visualisation agency based in Sydney, Australia, are using voice patterns, 3D printing and the Mayku FormBox to make edible chocolates as gifts. The chocolates are as good as they look, and the process to make them is as interesting as it sounds.
On a project called “The Taste of my Words”, Small Multiples is working with local chocolatiers to craft beautiful, custom chocolates based on people’s voice patterns.
The process starts with translating the sound of a person’s voice into a 3D volumetric print. You might have seen a sound pattern in 2D on a computer screen before. The translation of this into 3D form requires special software and the input of a sound engineer. The 3D version is then drawn in CAD, sliced, and sent to print on a 3D printer in plastic.
Once the 3D model is printed, the team take a sheet of plastic, insert it into the FormBox, heat it up, and stick on their vacuum cleaner to suck the heated plastic to the model and create a perfect mould of it.
The moulds are then cleaned, and melted chocolate is poured into them. The result is delicious chocolates that are one-of-a-kind, that is, until another batch of the same patterns is made!
The team can make multiple moulds on one plastic sheet in one go if there’s space, which makes creating the chocolates easier because there’s only one sheet to work with, not several. A bit like having a one dozen tray for your Yorkshire puddings, instead of two half-dozen trays. It’s a lot easier to pour.
The process of voice recording, 2D to 3D pattern translation, 3D printing and vacuum forming works very well. Small Multiples can make custom chocolates by hand in quite a large volume providing they are all the same batch. When a new batch is required using a different pattern, the process repeats itself. The lengthiest part of the process is the 3D printing but this only takes a few days, design and print time included.
Results
– Simplified in-house manufacturing process
– Mould making time reduced from six months to a few days
– Significantly reduced financial expenditure
– Reduction of waste incurred producing units in smaller batches first
Machines: 3D printer unspecified – Mayku FormBox.
This case study was first published on the Mayku website. All images are credit to Mayku.