AR glasses may be the hot topic for the year, but that is before AR ovens take the stage. We have come to see much from Whirlpool over the years, but few were particularly baked on an Augmented Reality oven. Still, the idea is there. Whirlpool’s high-tech cooking appliance of unwieldy name (Whirlpool Connected Hub Wall Oven) uses AR to help out that the dish pans out just the way you imagined it.
Or saw it on a subpar, 27-inch LCD screen. Positioned on the oven’s front door, the display is best utilized, according to Whirlpool, as a helping hand in kitchen. Aside the regular calendar check and similar features, the screen dishes out recipe suggestions based on your personal preferences, dietary schedule, or time required to cook the meal. Also, to ease the beginner cuisine savants into its multi-function self, the Augmented Reality oven from Whirlpool is packed with detailed instructions. It goes as far as displaying the best rack position. The screen itself leaves something to be desired. Transparent as it is, we did not expect vibrant colors or crazy resolution, but we got even less. Still, it gets the meal cooked.
But you are here for the AR bit. Smart ovens are hardly a rarity these days, with Augmented Reality making all the difference here. The difference, as it were, comes as a slew of nifty features only AR could muster. For instance, the instruction bit is all AR. Not only will the oven itself provide the pre-instructions, but will also run the cooking with you. Everything from what rack to use to the professional tips and tricks will be on display. Additionally, Whirlpool have introduced what’s called an internal vision system – a camera system that does exactly what it sounds. It lets you zoom in and out and follow the meal in real-time, as it is being prepared. To top things off, there is an AR image showing how the meal will, or in our case, should look when it’s done.
Whirlpool should be familiar to the culinary enthusiasts. It is the company behind the much-lauded KitchenAid appliance series. Besides Augmented Reality oven itself, Whirlpool had a good time at CES, adding a host of smart appliances to their core line. Among them, the Smart Oven + is the one to look out on. Smart washers, driers, get better too. So is the Whirlpool’s Yummly app, a full-fledged platform now, that gets promoted to serve all of the company Smart kitchen appliances.
When can you get hold of your own Augmented Reality Oven? Hard to say. Whirlpool is not coming out with any information regarding the release date. Or whether it would come out at all for that matter. It goes under the ‘concept’ label, meaning that the idea is ready but the market is probably not. Still, Whirlpool is giving us a glimpse of what’s coming to our kitchens.
