UK ‘food inventor’ creates world’s first Levitating Cocktail Machine
UK based ‘food inventor’ Charlie Harry Francis has created a levitating cocktail machine called the Levitron, which uses sound wave to levitate tiny droplets of cocktail, which users can then lick out of the air.
The machine, which Mr Francis created in collaboration with Professor Bruce Drinkwater from Bristol University, uses ultrasonic sound waves to create a levitating field which traps tiny alcohol droplets and floats them in mid air.
“It’s a pretty powerful machine, so far we’ve made a levitating Gin and Tonic at 70 per cent proof and a levitating Bloody Mary cocktail using Vodka at 160 per cent proof which will blow your socks off,” Mr Francis said.
Mr Francis is the founder of experimental events company Lick Me I’m Delicious, home of the Nitro Ice Cream Buggy, Edible Mist Machines, Ice Cream Pottery Gramophone Wheel, Instant Lollipop Maker, Soup Washing Machine and birthplace of the World’s first glow in the dark ice cream which glows as it is licked. Lick Me I’m Delicious specialise in ‘food inventions’. They are currently developing a Jellybean Waterfall, Whirlwind Popcorn Storm and Edible Aftershave Range.
Mr Francis said the Levitron was the first step in a wider project to create contactless cutlery. Next the team are going to look at levitating popcorn and eventually they want to be able to float an entire roast meal into a consumer’s mouth.
Professor Drinkwater is the Professor of Ultrasonics at Bristol University, specialising in Ultrasonics; Non-Destructive Testing (NDT); Ultrasonic arrays; and Ultrasonic particle manipulation. He is also the head of the Ultrasonics and Non-Destructive testing research group.
“Sound waves, even in the form of your voice have an inherent amount of power,” Professor Drinkwater said. “The Levitron uses very powerful sound waves in the ultrasonic spectrum which crucially are beyond the range of human hearing, otherwise it would seriously damage your ears when the machine was switched on,” he said.
The set up costs for the machine are currently about 30,000 pounds [put symbol in here], but Mr Francis said his team was also working to get the price of the machine down.
