As Valletta gears up for another edition of Science in the City on Friday, the capital is getting ready to be taken over by gigantic mice, installations that combine VR experiences with art, theatrical productions, and interactive experiments.

One project is guaranteed to appeal not only to the geeky nature of festival-goers, but also to those with a well-developed foodie side.

But, before we get to the actual food and drink element, take a minute to consider how amazing it would be if you could switch on the living room lights just by touching your spider plant. Or maybe if you could wake up to a steaming cup of coffee just by means of a quick caress to the ficus tree near your bed.

It all sounds like the stuff of highly futuristic living. Yet science and technology have already embarked on the road to this brand of highly sustainable urban living – and it’s not happening in some fancy science lab in the US, either, but right here in Valletta during the annual festival that brings the arts and the sciences together.

Joe Galea (left) working on the robot.Joe Galea (left) working on the robot.

Ro-botanicals is a joint collaboration between fablab and the Mediterranean Culinary Academy that sees at its focal point a robot serving drinks. The innovative part, however, is not really the robot itself, but the fact that it is all activated by a number of plants that each serve specific drinks, an idea that most of us can get behind very easily.

The concept was born out of a more noble intention than pandering to most people’s ever-readiness to have their drinks served with a dash of quirk. Joe Galea, one of the co-founders of fablab in Malta, said the idea of self-sufficiency within an urban environment is one of the main motivating ideas behind the concept.

“We wanted to incorporate nature within science and technology in a practical manner, encouraging the development of self-sufficiency within everyday life. This is the future of urban food production, and it’s not the too-distant future either – in many ways, it has already started to happen,” Mr Galea said.

This is the future of urban food production, and it’s not the too-distant future either

The participation of the Mediterranean Culinary Academy (MCA), a product-driven food academy focused on imparting technical abilities to aspiring chefs, was roped in.

The academy is focused on fostering sustainable food practices, an ethos that tied in very well with the entire Ro-botanicals concept. Founder Kurt Mifsud explained that the workings of the robot itself are based on human interaction, using a plant instead of the more traditional ‘switch’ on a drinks machine.

“Different plants will be serving various drinks, so the idea is that your choice of drink will be the result of your plant preference – the plants, drinks and food that we will be serving are paired according to complementary smells and flavours. You choose your plant, and the robot prepares and serves your drink. It is a curated experience, but the curation takes place organically,” he said.

This influx of technology within the culinary sector is not a modern-day phenomenon. Historically, food and technology have always worked hand-in-hand. MCA chef instructor Keith Abela explained how the Peruvians first experimented with freeze-drying back in 5000 BC. Closer to home, we have experimented with removing the cyanide element from almonds. If we are to reach self-sustainability, food and science must necessarily work together, he added.

While Ro-botanicals is very much a prototype, a “proof of experience”, as Mr Galea says, it is considered very much as the next natural step in urban living.

“The technology can get as complex as we like and there is no reason why it should not become the norm. It is inevitable,” he added.

Mr Mifsud agreed, pointing out how unlikely it would have appeared to someone from three generations ago had they been told that cooking a frozen pizza in a microwave in under five minutes would become a thing.

“Frozen pizza certainly was not the norm 40 years ago. Today, it is. Other aspects of technology within the food industry that might sound fanciful today will also certainly become the norm in the near future,” he says.

Science in the City takes place in a number of locations around Valletta on September 28. Ro-botanicals takes place at 7pm, 8.30pm and 10pm at Fablab, Sappers Street, Valletta.

https://scienceinthecity.org.mt/

Renders of how the robot will work.Renders of how the robot will work.

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