GE's kitchen of the future showcased in Orlando
By Marc Perton 
posted January 11th 2006 4:35PM
posted January 11th 2006 4:35PM
We may still be getting over CES and Macworld, but the endless cycle of trade shows goes on, and if you're into appliances, the place to be this week is Orlando, where manufacturers are showing off their gear at the Builders' Show (gee, and here we were looking for the fridges and dishwashers at CES). GE has a slick demo of a "kitchen of the future" that's heavy on voice-activated touchscreen OLED displays, sliding glass doors and integrated appliances (including a slide-out, self-cleaning cooktop). Ask "what's for breakfast?" and the system will give you a list of your available ingredients. Unfortunately, the kitchen won't cook the food for you without at least some manual intervention — and won't shop for you either, which means the response when we ask "what's for breakfast?" is going to be along the lines of leftover pizza and flat diet soda.
schei?n
Seems like it would be easy enough to build barcode scanners into appliances and cabinets, so you could scan something going in and scan the empty container when you're done and it would build you a grocery list to replace what you used. Or RFID, if Walmart's nefarious technology gets that far. Then a simple link-up to the grocery store's db would pre-shop your stuff and have it waiting for you when you showed up to schlep it home (after perusing for new stuff that wasn't on the list).
Build in Googliciousness so that you'd get relevant advertising and special offers. You buy Pampers Size 1? Here's a coupon for $1 off baby food.
I hate grocery shopping. Hate. it. I want my fridge to do it for me. Is that asking so much? Sheesh!
Sweet! I've been waiting for stylish asians to show up in my kitchen for so long!
The future is going to kick ass.
It will be interesting to see where they put the bar code or RFID on fresh produce.
Don't bite that apple unless you X-Ray it first.
Seems like the Carousel of Progress at Disneyworld.
Just what I need. The company that makes my $2500 fridge with fancy drawers that don't work adding bunch of new gadgets to my kitchen. I'll probably starve.
It is a shame that they predicted this in 2035 instead of next year :( I really want one when I design my house in 3 years. Perhaps a prototype will be available by then which would be sweet!
I see nothing difficult for them to create it from current technology.
I estimate $19,599 for the whole set.
Shucks, Jane Jetson wouldn't have Rosie wake up for this.
leftover pizza? what is that? Is that why I am fat?
Stuart
The whole concept is bullocks. The fridge capacity is pathetic, and I didn't notice a freezer. This is less realistic than that turkey roasting in a microwave concept back in the 60s.
And... why the hell were they only d isplaying the people s reflections? That was weird as hell.
Ah yes, that old chestnut of putting barcode scanners in your fridge so it reorders food when you've run out....
Here's why it's flawed:
1.The barcode reader scans a carton, not the contents, so when you take the milk out, does it reorder immediately or do you have to press and override button to tell it not to reorder.
2. It's an inefficient way of compiling shopping lists...do you really just want to re-order existing goods, or will you go to the store and spontaneously choose what you fancy.
3. Human behaviour usually scuppers grand visions like this...small details.
4. Why go to all the trouble of installing the equipment and the infrastructure...what's the profitable benefit for all the extra outlay?
5. There's an argument that internet-enabled fridges can diagnose their own faults and call for the service engineer (an IBM ad has exactly this scenario). Problem is that fridges are waaay more reliable than anything the computer industry has to offer, so putting in all these facny electronics actually makes the fridge LESS reliable.
Thats why you need a barcode scanner on your trash can, not the fridge.
Ok, say you just got home with the groceries. Can't you just push a button the the fridge that says "New Items" and as you load the fridge pass it by the barcode scanner before placing it on the shelves. When it's scanned it will know what item was placed in the fridge and give it an expiration date in the database. Then since the fridge has a scanner on the outside when you've used all or almost all of the item press the "Remove Item" button on the frigde when taking out the item and scan it and trash it. Then at the end of the week you press the "Make Grocery list" button and it will display what you don't have and what's about to expire and you can check off what you want to get again on the list and then print it out. That's not so hard is it?
Oh and since it's an internet connected fridge you could go online at work and get the list before coming home so you can go shopping. I sure wish they hadn't canned the Samsung HomePad. That was the only fridge that came even close to being the best thing in the kitchen. I mean internet access on a removable tablet with a video camera on the fridge to leave messages for the family. Now that was a great fridge! If they had sold one near where I lived I would definately have bought one.
Here's an article on it if you're interested:
http://www.g4tv.com/techtvvault/features/43870/Preview_Samsung_RH2777AT_HomePAD_Internet_Refrigerator.html
No foodarackacycle?
-- Elias