The Future of Smart Kitchen Summit, is now in its fourth year, showcased even more advancements and bold ideas which will soon be present in modern household kitchens. The event brought together chefs, product manufacturers, research and development teams, as well as engineers to discuss the future of food preparation.
Besides AI that understands and copes to your cooking needs, there are also a variety of smart appliances in the works. It’s not a remote idea that a ‘smart pan’ becomes a reality – one who can tell the person cooking to lower the heat so as not to burn what’s being stir-fried.
The buzz is that consumers will soon receive ultra-personalized dishes from high-tech home kitchens soon. These dishes include food cooked exactly the way you like it: runny yolk eggs, crispy bacon, medium-rare steak, and so on.
The New York Times reported that significant kitchen appliances brand had embraced the idea of the future of smart kitchen. Whirlpool and Kenmore, have announced that their kitchen appliances, which include dishwashers, fridges, and cooking ranges, are now fitted with voice controllers like Alexa. And although full integration and interaction have yet to be achieved, the model in mind is that consumers will eventually just talk to appliances to get precisely what they need.
For now, Kenmore said it is gathering failure data from these appliances and using the information to refine smart technology inside their machines. It also improves systems which could extend the life of your appliances – to the point that manufacturers may be able to tell precisely up to how many uses an item can endure before it breaks and needs a replacement.
Attendees at the future of Smart Kitchen Summit agreed that it’s only a mere 5 to 10 years before artificial intelligence (AI) becomes a permanent fixture in the smart kitchen. Imagine a scenario where your power blender can connect wirelessly to a kitchen scale and your freezer to set up a healthy and nutritious meal for you.
Based on pre-set preferences or your voice-activated a command, you can have a steak or salmon dinner cooked to perfection without ever touching a pan. The technologies for these innovations are already in existence. People are bound to do more than just use the screen on their refrigerator doors to check your email and browse recipes that your robotic chef will be preparing.
Besides AI that understands and copes to your cooking needs, there are also a variety of smart appliances in the works. It’s not a remote idea that a ‘smart pan’ becomes a reality – one who can tell the person cooking to lower the heat so as not to burn what’s being stir-fried.
More importantly, these types of smart technology make consumers aware of how much they’re wasting and throwing away in their household.
Removing the Soul of the Kitchen
There are, of course, apprehensions once the future of “smart kitchen” becomes a reality. There’s no doubt that millions of people, especially millennials and busy parents, will embrace this technology wholeheartedly given the convenience and ease it offers. When one comes home tired from work, the smart stove can have something warm and home-cooked waiting for them. But will there be “soul” in these kitchens? It seems that people are willing to trade warm, comfort food prepared with love and care for something instant and convenient.
Given that the technology is still a few years away from being fully integrated into home kitchens, let’s hope developers can do something about slowly acclimatizing people to these innovations.
