Photograph by Andreas Hirsch
The Kitchen of Things to Come
November 4, 2003
Boston, that bastion of traditional New England values and conservative good taste, is notable more for its attachment to the hearth—and all it represents—than for its early adoption of cutting-edge innovations and lifestyles. Yet Boston is the site of an unprece-dented study designed to observe how 20 average Joes and Joannes live with what many say will be the kitchen of the 21st century—the "connected" hub of the home.
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Bosch’s Integra Limited dishwasher with Appex
technology senses how dirty your dishes are. (Click image to enlarge)Mealtime, as the program has been dubbed, is the first test of networked kitchen-based appliances ever conducted, and it has all the trappings of a reality TV series. Each household has been equipped with a battery of innovative appliances and high-tech devices: a Polara refrigerated range and Conquest refrigerator–cum–web tablet from Whirlpool (both supplied with Internet access for this pilot), a web-based Icebox entertainment/command center from Salton, a Hewlett-Packard printer, a cell phone and access to Peapod, an online grocery service. Homeowners can use their web tablets to search an exclusive Whirlpool web site for a recipe, print it, order the ingredients online, have them delivered, prepare the meal, and leave it in the refrigerated oven for up to 24 hours. They can then program the oven from one of the command centers (fridge web tablet, Icebox, their own laptop) and later connect with the range through the cell phone to confirm that dinner should be cooked as planned—even canceled or postponed.
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