Chef in a Box

Have you seen a vending machine lately? Most are still pretty basic: Put in some cash and out comes a can or package. But the most advanced models have computer processors and touch-screen displays that let you customize your order to a remarkable degree. Touch-screen drink machines, for example, use a set of flavor cartridges to create more than a hundred soft drink combinations, be it Raspberry Coke or Peach Sprite Zero. The Let’s ­Pizzamachine kneads the dough, spreads it with sauce, cheese, and your choice of toppings, and then bakes it under infrared lamps—all in less than 3 minutes. And ­MooBella’s Ice Creamery takes a mere 40 seconds to create a custom-blended dish of ice cream, with nearly 100 combinations of flavors and mix-ins. [See More]