Sure, you can use products like the Awa Taccino and the Cinnipen to make art on top of your coffee drinks, but we still have no idea how people make some of the more detailed latte art they produce. If you want to make the same elaborate milk foam art but don’t really have the skills nor the patience to pull it off, you can fake it soon enough with the Ripple Maker.
A machine that can print images on the foam at the top of your coffee cup, it lets you enjoy art on your coffee without any actual work or skill involved. Just place your freshly-made cup of joe on the device, choose an image to print, press a button, and wait 10 seconds for the “printing” to finish before taking a picture and posting on your Instagram for whatever jollies it gives you.
The Ripple Maker is a countertop device measuring 8.5 x 10.5 inches that uses a mix of inkjet and 3D printing technologies to inscribe imagery on foam. It features an adjustable compartment that can accommodate any cup or mug up to 7 inches tall and 4.5 inches wide, so any of the usual items you use to hold your coffee should fit inside. An accompanying mobile app connects to the device over WiFi, allowing you to choose which image to print for each session. There’s also a dock on top, which looks sized to hold a standard 7-inch tablet.
Priced at $999, the Ripple Maker isn’t exactly something that makes practical sense for home kitchens. For commercial establishments who serve copious amounts of lattes and cappuccinos daily, however, this could very well prove to be a valuable asset. Units start shipping in September.