3D Printing Cafes Serve Coffee With a Side of Technology

And they're headed to the U.S.

The internet cafes of yesteryear are slowly being usurped by coffee shops offering a much newer technology to go alongside their lattes: 3D printing. The Wall Street Journal says 3D printing cafes where customers can print anything from cigarette holders to figurines of themselves "have popped up around the world and are heading to the U.S."

The cafes currently operating in cities like Berlin, Barcelona, London, and Tokyo, "mostly feature consumer-scale printers" — devices that currently cost, on average, around $1,200. The cafes provide access to 3D printing at a much more accessible price point, starting at around $8.50 per half hour. In addition to selling coffee, food, and in some cases alcohol, "Many locations also host workshops, from introductory 3D printing to more advanced modeling courses." Look for a 3D printing cafe to pop up in New York City, possibly by the end of the summer.

With the emergence of 3D food printing technology, perhaps one day coffee shops will print their own muffins. In the meantime, there's always the lower-tech (but considerably more cuddly) cat cafe trend to fall back on. Get an inside look at one of London's 3D printing cafes, below:

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