It’s predicted that sales of smart appliances will rise in 2017, so we have been taking a look at all things “smart” that you can have in a kitchen – and what a lot there are!
Let’s start with the hob and the hood. One manufacturer now uses technology that enables the hood and hob to communicate with each other so that the hood is automatically activated when the induction hob is switched on and it adjusts its power and lighting accordingly and then the hood switches off automatically. Whilst your hood and hob are talking to each other, your smartphone could be telling your washing machine what to do – from another room, from your office or from abroad! Talking of washing machines, how about a washing machine that can diagnose a fault so that reduces the number of engineer call-outs, or what about a washing machine with downloadable programmes that adapt the machine to the lifestyle of the user – saving time and energy.
Moving on to ovens, you can have a built-in oven with a downloadable recipe database – the days of shelves filled with recipe books may be numbered!
A recent survey by Hoover shows that of 1000 surveyed, 40% of consumers are interested in operating their appliances via wi-fi and as 85% of the population own a table or smartphone there are huge opportunities for kitchen appliance manufacturers to offer “kitchen connectivity”.
Smart fridges are another example of kitchen technology that have been talked about for a quite a while. These appliances have been programmed to sense what type of products are being stored inside it and it then keeps track on the stock level via a barcode or scan. This kind of fridge can often indicate when a product needs replacing as well.
However, in addition to smart “white” goods there are now smart appliances. How about a frying pan that has inbuilt sensors that talk to an app – the app then tells you when to turn your piece of salmon over, when to add extra ingredients and when it’s ready to serve!
Then we can move on to the apps themselves – how about an app on your ‘phone that will let you know when the oven needs to be turned down for your casserole to be cooked properly and then will let you know when it is ready?
Now this might all sound a bit far fetched and perhaps unnecessary as a lot of us enjoy the actual process of cooking and baking. However, imagine if you had a relative who wasn’t as adept at cooking as yourself, or who was having memory problems and couldn’t remember when the oven should be turned down. These smart goods and apps might just be the answer for them to help them continue living a fuller and independent life for a longer period of time.