But there is one place where smart technology might make a difference, and that is in the kitchen. I have been dismissive of smart fridges and internet connected ranges before, but after reading Jennifer Tuohy’s article The Smart Kitchen: The Next Big Hope for the Internet of Things in TriplePundit, I realize that you cannot look at these appliances in isolation. She writes:
What is the largest producer of waste and second largest user of energy in the home? The kitchen. …I believe the smart kitchen is the next big thing for the smart home, the residential arm of IOT. If manufacturers can figure out a way to make smart products in the kitchen that reduce waste and energy use and increase convenience, then we will have a win for the planet, the consumer and business.
Is a smart kitchen a good idea, or the set up for an episode of, "Murder, She Wrote?"
(Score: 3, Insightful) by FatPhil on Monday October 10 2016, @04:59AM
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
(Score: 2) by driverless on Monday October 10 2016, @05:21AM
I read it as The Next Big Hype. Why would anyone even write it up as "Next Big Hope"?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 10 2016, @05:00AM
I'm an American man, I have no job, no health insurance, and no kitchen. Now if you could connect my hotplate to the internet of things, I'll say fuck you! I don't need some hacker hacking into my hotplate while I'm sleeping to burn down my tent in the shantytown!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 10 2016, @12:40PM
When did MichaelDavidCrawford start posting anonymously?
(Score: 1) by khallow on Monday October 10 2016, @05:35AM
(Score: 2) by Bogsnoticus on Monday October 10 2016, @05:41AM
I thought the whole idea of a smart kitchen was it would serve up the appropriate genre of porn [theregister.co.uk] whilst you were cooking?
Genius by birth. Evil by choice.
(Score: 2) by VLM on Monday October 10 2016, @12:05PM
Wait what, there's an inappropriate genre of porn while cooking?
(Score: 2) by VLM on Monday October 10 2016, @12:40PM
Uh I retract that. My tastes in cooking pr0n are a little ... VANILLA (oh the puns they write themselves)
I was daydreaming about Giada as usual, but then I realized there's scat and I suppose BBW "big beautiful women" could be a bit discouraging.
This is aside from various activities that are perfectly safe to watch on screen, but probably violate one food safety standard or another such as various "hide the cucumber" games or even simple OSHA violations such as nude bacon frying.
(Score: 2) by bob_super on Monday October 10 2016, @06:36PM
Your fridge will detect which foods you're grabbing for dinner and display the appropriate naked pictures to encourage or discourage you.
One version has the girls getting fatter as you keep taking fattening foods. Another mode detects if a woman is cooking and shows slim porn stars to draw the guys' eyes away from her.
Just don't ask what you get when you grab the Ghost Pepper sauce.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by stormwyrm on Monday October 10 2016, @06:15AM
Numquam ponenda est pluralitas sine necessitate.
(Score: 1) by tftp on Monday October 10 2016, @06:48AM
a smart kitchen would be able to keep track of what you have in the kitchen and from there it would be able to give you choices of what recipes you could use to cook the next meal, based on the dietary restrictions of the people in your household
I would consider this function to be somewhat insulting, as if people cannot think for themselves what they can make from the items that are available. Sure, there are millions of exotic recipes, but do you really want to try something unusual when you are tired and just want to eat something quickly and fall asleep? Perhaps, you, a thinking human being, may know better what you want today?
The only "smart kitchen" that would make any sense is a matter synthesizer from Star Trek that can make any dish out of pure energy. That would be indeed a game changer. Lacking that, speedy food delivery from a nearby restaurant is a close second. They already offer something like that where I live.
(Score: 2) by stormwyrm on Monday October 10 2016, @07:34AM
You don't even need something that can make stuff out of pure energy, which I think is too far in the future: E=mc2 is a bitch. You'd need 9×1013 joules of energy just to synthesise one gram of matter, which is more than the energy released by the detonation of the Hiroshima bomb (6.3×1013 joules). Nanotech molecular assemblers such as those depicted in Neal Stephenson's The Diamond Age would be just as good: given some feedstock material and energy it would be able to make just about anything needed, including food, and we might realistically see such things appear within our lifetimes.
Numquam ponenda est pluralitas sine necessitate.
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Monday October 10 2016, @08:19AM
I'm more of a realist, as is David Drake. His troops carry a do-hicky that makes "food". Cut off a chunk of any biological material, toss it in the chute, and out comes some gruel. You dial it for flavor, but basically everything tastes like sawdust. One of the protagonists found that dialing in tapioca pudding produced something that actually tasted like tapioca pudding, but almost everything sucked when it came out. The only "good" thing about the synthesizers is, in most situations where you rely on them, you're so damned exhausted that you're not tasting food anyway. From his book, 'The Redliners'.
(Score: 2) by VLM on Monday October 10 2016, @12:31PM
but basically everything tastes like sawdust.
You misspelled "corn syrup" but other than that, fairly realistic. If the Americans invent it, it'll taste like corn syrup, just like all other American processed food.
A couple years ago I was at a tween restaurant, I forget the google term but its fancier than fast food while less fancy than sit down, typical $10 burger kind of place, and they had a soda synthesizer that used touch screens and a couple bottles of corn syrup and mystery compounds to make literally hundreds of carbonated beverages. Because everything is controllable I had to try controlling everything so I ended up with something impressive yet disgusting, like cherry vanilla coke with caffeine and extra fizz or some damn thing. I could see soda addict people having something like that at home. Not much of an extension to add a hopper of flakes, shreds, and granola and a couple more artificial flavors and you got every kind of commercial breakfast cereal made in the last century, or granola bar maker or ...
Most of the time I eat vaguely paleo at home and I think we're extremely technologically close to a machine hooked up to a sink and compost bucket where you toss peppers and lettuce and carrots and tomatoes and apples and whatever fruits and vegetables you can imagine into the top and robot vision magically food preps everything by (robot) hand. Maybe sort into buckets. So toss a bag of groceries in the top, and out comes a prepped bucket of salad, a bucket of stir fry veg, etc. Robot prep cook, I guess. Turn a dial for minimum output quality from 5 star restaurant to "mcdonalds would throw it out, but its technically safe to eat". Once in awhile I like to make homemade 5 star quality homemade applesauce.
I'd ask santa for a robot butcher to handle the other half of my diet, but I'd worry about the housepets and kids. Heck a robobutcher that can handle a cow would probably be a worthy opponent for me, 1 on 1.
Thermal depolymerization and oil synthesis is a COTS thing today, so throw chunks of plant into a box and out the other end eventually comes synthetic Crisco or fake butter is realistic today. As of half a century ago total synthesis of sucrose or other sugars was NOT realistic even done by hand at lab scale. Probably things have improved but I donno how much. Another interesting idea is we're pretty close to "dump anything containing cellulose here" and weeks later "mushrooms come out here". The problem is the "weeks later" part.
Eats anything and turns it to goo is a good weapon. That's another problem.
(Score: 1) by khallow on Monday October 10 2016, @02:02PM
I forget the google term but its fancier than fast food while less fancy than sit down
Fast casual [wikipedia.org].
(Score: 2) by VLM on Monday October 10 2016, @12:47PM
give you choices of what recipes you could use to cook the next meal, based on ...
... which advertiser won the micro-bidding war to get permission to unavoidably spam the F out of you.
Can you imagine the product placement BS of just something like commercial taco meat seasoning?
If you want someone else to tell you what to eat and how to cook it, there's a couple "deliver a meal in a box" catering services, that while somewhat bland and definitely expensive, are effective and safe and quick.
There is already a whole smooth continuum of having a waitress hand you food at the restaurant all the way to growing your own food to cook it yourself. I'm not sure where in that giant infinite continuum a "smart kitchen" would fit.
(Score: 2) by AthanasiusKircher on Monday October 10 2016, @05:10PM
I've already learned how not to buy more food than my household can eat before it spoils, and while the recipe planning feature might be useful, it's nothing that can't be done by sitting down for half an hour before going to the grocery and thinking of what you should be making for the week. I very rarely throw stuff out of the fridge because it's gone bad
I'm basically like this too, but I believe we're in the minority. My experience is that most people tend to fall more into the "hoarder," "disorganized," or "too busy to deal with cooking" classifications (which are overlapping categories).
Hoarders just like having full fridges and freezers and pantries... they don't really care much what's in them, though often they tend to like buying stuff "on sale" to get "deals." The problem with hoarders is that 90% of stuff in the fridge or pantry is inaccessible without moving 5 things in front of it, so stuff that's more than a couple layers deep just stays there for years.
Disorganized folks are the norm, and even organized people may not care enough to be organized in their kitchen if they don't really like cooking. Disorganized people don't tend to plan grocery store visits -- they often end up picking up a handful of items every other day because they keep forgetting stuff. And that forgetfulness extends to fridge and pantry, too, where they'll spend $20 on some special imported package of X because they'd love to make Y special dish, but then they forget about it and find it 4 months later after it's spoiled.
And lots of folks just don't enjoy cooking period or are too busy to deal with it. Unlike the simply disorganized folks, these people can't even manage the initiative to buy X to make Y. They stock freezers with TV dinners and have pantries full of cereal, ramen, and the "orange food group" (which includes stuff from Doritos to cheese balls to...). Fridges are where stuff "goes to die," generally leftovers... which will be uncovered 3 weeks later when some awful smell just doesn't go away.
Those who can actual plan meals and control input/output to avoid food waste are either too poor to function otherwise or are part of the very small minority of organized people who actually care about their kitchens. Bottom line -- even if this isn't useful for you or me, the vast majority of people may actually like this function.
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Monday October 10 2016, @08:12AM
The only "smart" that I would appreciate in the kitchen, is a refrigerator that could monitor the food you put inside of it. "That cheese has mold growing on it, you might want to throw it away!" Or, "The ground beef is definitely spoiled, don't eat that!" I suppose that "The half can of Coke has gone flat." might be appropriate, though of far less concern. How about, "You should use the pork chops before the chicken, because it's shelf life will expire soon."
I would really appreciate if the refrigerator were that smart. There's simply not another damned thing that I want a "smart" kitchen to do for me. Appliances should be energy efficient, with or without a computer chip embedded in them.
(Score: 3, Funny) by VLM on Monday October 10 2016, @12:58PM
I'll toss you a free idea... assuming (LOL) that every kitchen gadget contains a RFID tag and my stainless steel dishwasher is a decent Faraday cage full of readable RFID tags, then I would not mind an email occasionally "hey VLM I'm your mandolin and I'm very lonely, having sat on the shelf for the last two months, please think about slicing some cucumbers on a salad using me". Damn, some super thin sliced cukes on a salad is sounding strangely tasty right about now. Damn you mandolin, damn you. Now I'm hungry for salad.
This would microscopically improve my life although I don't see how it would help sell anything so in an "internet of other peoples things" world it won't work.
On the downside this could really freak people out. Imagine an IM suddenly popping up "VLM... I'm your whiskey bottle... you should drink me... I'm lonely... come and get me... you're feeling thirsty right now aren't you?"
(Score: 2) by urza9814 on Wednesday October 12 2016, @02:55AM
Yes -- MONITOR the food. Meaning the device must actually be smart and must actually have sensors -- and that means more than just a clock. A fridge that texts me when the milk is "expired" is an amusing novelty at best. The reminder might be marginally useful, but I probably didn't need it and if I did it probably came at a time that didn't help. But a fridge that knows that the first bottle of milk that "expires" next month has already gone bad, the second bottle of milk that "expired" a week ago still has a couple days left, and the eggs that "expired" six months ago are still totally fine...THAT would be useful!
I'd actually like the recipe suggestion feature too, if done right (which I expect I'll see the day I jailbreak my fridge...) For example, if I eat the same thing for breakfast every day, it shouldn't suggest some totally new recipe just because I happen to have all the ingredients. If I eat the same thing every day, the suggestions should be more like "Hey, try adding some peppers next time!" or "Maybe you should try that in the oven instead of over the stove!". If I'm cooking something totally different each night, *then* it can just throw out any random recipe where I have the ingredients available. In other words, it shouldn't be reacting to what I have and what the company wants to advertise, it should be reacting to what I have and what I eat and how I eat it. I want to scroll through a feed (a feed feed?) of suggestions, and let it know what I might be interested in, and then I want it to suggest what I can make right now, and what I should buy to enable the greatest number of additional options. Some attempt to account for nutrition would be nice. Some attempt to account for how often I shop and not suggesting things likely to expire before I use them would be awesome.
(Score: 2) by MostCynical on Monday October 10 2016, @05:58AM
so is it the food that gets tracked, or the occupants?
"you spent 2.5 hours in the kitchen last week, your S.O spent 14"
"I guess once you start doubting, there's no end to it." -Batou, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
(Score: -1, Flamebait) by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 10 2016, @06:38AM
112 hours, barefoot and pregnant, where she belongs.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 10 2016, @06:46AM
No good points made, no real info on how to save money... Cameras and RFID tags in the fridge? No thanks, I have a functioning brain. Sound like they just want to sell gadgets and add more data mining tech into our lives. I already think of tossing out my smartphone...
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 10 2016, @08:19AM
Cameras and RFID tags in the fridge?
Ah yes, what sort of crack was this person on?
'..When the refrigerator and the pantry knows what’s inside (courtesy of cameras and RFID tags, not by the user inputting its contents through an app), and can communicate that to an AI device that is aware of the local weather, knows the dietary restrictions of the household and has access to recipes, it can serve up dinner ideas from the food already on hand.'
I can see it now...
Me: 'I'll be having a curry tonight'
Fridge: 'No you bloody well won't, you'll be having a salad, there's stuff in here near the use by date, it's warm outside and besides, based on what my cameras have seen you personally scoff, you're a fat bastard who needs to loose weight...'
And they're so bubbly and up for this sort of future BS in the article...no thanks, this sort of 'future' I can live without...
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 10 2016, @08:25AM
loose weight...
s/loose/lose/
falty keybord...(it really was, I've just replaced it with a slightly newer IBM 7993...)
(Score: 2) by Bogsnoticus on Tuesday October 11 2016, @06:51AM
Better throw out that one too.
U doesn't work, and A seems intermittent.
Genius by birth. Evil by choice.
(Score: 2) by Gaaark on Monday October 10 2016, @12:34PM
How appropriate!
Fish!
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=dkjbMoj0JY4 [youtube.com]
--- Please remind me if I haven't been civil to you: I'm channeling MDC. ---Gaaark 2.0 ---
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 10 2016, @02:48PM
A gourmet who thinks of calories is like a tart that looks at her watch. -- James Beard
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 10 2016, @08:39AM
A TRS-80 FOR RECIPES IS ENOUGH.
(Score: 1) by fraxinus-tree on Monday October 10 2016, @10:39AM
Won't do either.
(Score: 1) by butthurt on Monday October 10 2016, @02:14PM
At the turn of the next century, most food will be stored frozen in individual portions. The computer will keep a running inventory on all foodstuffs and suggest daily menus based on the nutritional needs of the family. When the meal has been selected, the various portions are fed automatically into the microwave oven, for a few seconds of deep thawing or warming.
-- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0RRxqg4G-G4 [youtube.com]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 10 2016, @05:10PM
Ugh, why would people want this? We'll see a huge boom in home gardening just to get fresh food... Dystopian visions planning 15b humans?
(Score: 4, Insightful) by WillR on Monday October 10 2016, @02:47PM
...is this what being a grumpy old man feels like?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 10 2016, @11:43PM
No, you'll have to pay a monthly fee to allow the fridge to access the company's online database where they keep track of everything food-related you buy. That way you can access the data on your smart phone while you're at the store.
Version 2: Buy our new fridge (compared to a software update even though you're paying a subscription fee...) and it'll automatically order the food for you.
Version 2.1: Our new software update is going to display some products from our preferred partners that you may be interested in and automatically insert them into your generated shopping list (which is automatically ordered). This update is required.
Version 2.2: Buy the new smart lock app, only $1 a day. Keep your husband from sneaking that late night snack.
Version 3: Two liquid dispensers. Get your coffee and water straight from the fridge door! (good use of waste heat? Why can't we get some warm/hot water from the fridge?)
Version 4: Four liquid dispensers! Buy liquid packs from us instead of boxed orange juice (*cough* candy).
*Orange juice and similar drinks you buy at the store have 30 grams of sugar per serving. Normal candy averages less than that...
(Score: 2) by maxwell demon on Monday October 10 2016, @08:21PM
I don't want to activate devices with a spoken sentence. That's too much risk of accidentally doing it (tell someone "I've put some food here on the stove; when you come home in the evening, just switch on the stove." The device decodes "switch on the stove" and does it.). Add that I have no need to get told how many cups fit in a gallon (I'm in a metric country, and I don't need a computer to tell me how to shift decimal points, thank you very much), and I conclude that this is a wholly useless device for me.
The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
(Score: 1) by shipofgold on Monday October 10 2016, @10:06PM
Is a better way to monitor the temperature in the fridge, and the real temperature/electric usage of the Oven.
I have toyed with the idea of putting an Arduino connected to a DS18B20 and a WIFI module into the fridge and then monitor the temperature every minute. I already have some DS18B20s scattered around the house and it does open my eyes how much leaving a door open or closed messes with the temperature and how much the airco runs, and just seeing the charts lets me say "keep that bedroom door open so that the thermostat in the hall will get that cold air as well". But that ain't "smart"...just enlightenment from seeing the charts.
I think that knowing the real temp inside the fridge and watching the cycling of the compressor/temp will allow us to detect much easier when a fridge is going on the fritz and wasting energy needlessly. Similarly, having a real temperature monitor for the oven might lead to more efficient use of the oven.
Maybe just put an electric meter on each device to show the KwH used would lead to more efficient usage...put a price on something and people pay attention.
The only way I see monitoring whats in the fridge/pantry will ever be useful is when Amazon starts delivering straight into the fridge without my ever seeing it....doubt I will live that long.