3-D printed food leaps from fantasy to the table

Leandro Rolon has a dream.

"Imagine," he says as we stroll through his Beijing design studio, Defacto. "You get up in the morning and your 3-D printer/oven has already created your custom breakfast bar. It's made for your taste and for your body's needs, because you did a saliva scan before you went to bed. So your oven knows if you have a hangover, or you're low on certain minerals. It also knows if you're spending the morning at the gym or sitting in an office."

We're going to see driverless cars on the road next year, he notes, and technology will push 3-D printing for uses like food equally fast. He'll be speaking on the topic on Wednesday at a "Future of Food" seminar at The Hatchery in Beijing.