In the years growing up, or even in my adulthood for that matter, I was always fascinated by prism-like beverage glasses and artifacts that created the illusion of an image floating on the liquid inside, even though the image was actually printed on the outer surface. Now, Japanese beverage company Suntory believes that illusion should not remain as a deception, but with its new robot Lidris is making sure a liquid can actually have an illustration imprinted on it (in it, actually, to be precise).
At the ongoing Expo 2025 Osaka in Japan, the beverage company at its Park Café pavilion is serving visitors glasses of refreshing lemonade with 3D drawings of the official expo character, MYAKU-MYAKU, not on the surface, but within the liquid. The robot uses drink-drawing technology to draw 3D illustrations directly inside the beverage with inks made from natural ingredients.
Designer: Suntory
Lidris creates artwork inside a liquid ever so precisely without distortion. In fact, courtesy of Suntory’s drink-drawing technology, which the robot uses, the illustration within the beverage does not distort on shaking it slightly or moving it to drink. Since the inks used are food safe, this hyper-realistic liquid art is safe to consume and also harmless to the environment.
By blending technology and artistry, Lidris is giving a new dimension to the beverage industry, where not just latte art on the surface, but a 3D art of your favorite footballer inside a glass of tonic water is appreciated. So, with this new robot thriving on the principles of robotics, food science, and fluid mechanics, turning an ordinary drink into something extraordinary is just going to be a matter of a few instructions and some infected ink strokes within the beverage.
Lidris is designed to precisely inject food-safe inks into water and create interesting art based on the instructions provided to the robotic arm through the connected tablet. The liquid drawing is going to be possible in a range of occasions and places. Owing to Lidris’ compact size – 50-centimeter square – it would fit anywhere in the house, café, or at an event venue, and powered by a standard outlet will draw amazing art in liquids.
The tiny robot is designed like a robotic arm with a specialized nozzle on one end. The nozzle dips right into the beverage and carves the desired art with enough precision so that it maintains shape or design within the fluid. Reportedly, for the drawing to hold up in place, the beverages are, for now, formulated in the correct thickness necessary. The resulting images, Suntory informs, “can last over an hour indoors, even if the glass is gently moved or shaken.” We are not sure, at the time of writing, whether the robot will be commercially available, but the little guy seems to be a genius at creating art in water!
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