Synaesthetic Recipes
Xinyu H. Liu, Matthew Hockenberry and Ted Selker
This work explores a technological answer to the perennial question “What’s for dinner?” Few of us know with great certainty the exact food we crave; instead, we stew on the question and explore the nature of cravings with imaginative descriptions: “I feel like something light, fresh, sophisticated, not too mushy—something influenced by Thai or Indian, something aromatic.” Synaesthetic Recipes is a visual search program that allows imaginative textual descriptions, using them to drive recipe recommendations. A database of 100,000 recipes is automatically annotated with common sense about food. An artificial intelligence robotic reader reads each recipe, and based on flavors of the ingredients and cooking procedures predicts how a food will look, taste, and smell. We are translating recipes into the rich descriptive vernacular of how people naturally conceptualize their cravings for food.
Augmented Reality Kitchen
Jackie Lee, Ernesto Arroyo and Ted Selker
This project consists of projected text and graphics annotation on different appliances, used to augment kitchen tasks. Digital annotation is projected in the working environment in order to avoid losing focus on any of the simultaneous events. The refrigerator shows text describing its contents and items that need to be purchased, in addition to serving as a digital bulletin board. The dishwasher displays whether it is clean or dirty, empty or full. The range is projected with information on its temperature to avoid accidents. These annotations allow the objects themselves to tell the story relating to them, not a message somewhere else that might not be noticed.
Intelligent Spoon
Connie Cheng, Leonardo Bonanni
This project aims to introduce computing into traditional culinary utensils. It seeks to provide information, in an integrated manner, about any food the spoon is in contact with, and to offer suggestions to improve the food. The spoon is equipped with sensors that measure temperature, acidity, salinity, and viscosity, and is connected to a computer via a cable. The sensors evaluate the different properties of the food, and send them to the computer for further processing. Apart from consolidating measurements that are normally done by an array of equipments into a single spoon, the information obtained can be used to advise the users what their next step should be; for example, it tells the user if there is not enough salt in the brine prepared to make pickles.
MilkCam
Ernesto Arroyo
MilkCam is an internet-enabled camera disguised as a milk container. It allows users with cell phones or PDAs, to remotely snap a picture of their refrigerator’s interior. People don’t upgrade their fridges frequently, making it difficult for new internet-enabled refrigerators to gain popularity. This type of technology is direct alternative to internet-enabled refrigerators that are almost prohibitive to acquire.