Kitchen automation

["Bill Kearney" <wkearney-99@hot-mail-com>]

> Just as when I want to add milk to the grocery order, I point the remote
at
> the milk container, not the cereal box.


Well, kitchen automation tasks are likely to be a good bit different than
the AV or HVAC stuff.  I've likewise no desire to have to lug around some
magic pointer in the kitchen.  There's a lot of potential for automation in
the kitchen.  But unfortunately most of the work in automation is being done
by people that never actually GO HOME.  All too often it's the geeks trapped
in the cubicles that don't actually HAVE a life that get tasked with making
lifestyle devices.  Trust me, I know, having worked on a PDA some years ago
taught some interesting (if disappointing) lessons about that.

For the kitchen I'm leaning toward using a setup akin to the "price
checking" terminals you see at stores like Target.  Something with a barcode
scanner already built into it.  Or one integrated in a way that allows
hands-free use.  The last thing you need in a kitchen is something separate
or with dangling cords.  It's all too easy to drop something into a liquid
or get cords tangled and cut.

Not to mention dealing with gunk on your hands from cooking.  That's a whole
other touchscreen challenge.

I'd want an interface that deals with real world issues.  While it's
interesting to think about how automation could be integrated to deal with
dietary issues (as in, "I'm sorry Dave you can't have that chocolate ice
cream now") those things cloud over implementing just basic functionality.
As in, quickly, tell me how long do I nuke the frozen veggies for?  Or, crap
I'm out of a particular spice, what else should I be keeping on the spice
rack and cross-reference that with what's known to be on sale at the local
grocery.  Task-oriented is the whole point of a kitchen.

Anyway, it'd certainly be interesting to see things evolve in this area.

-Bill Kearney