As previous covered with our blogs, technology is a vital part of the modern kitchen. We rely on it to help us illuminate, heat and clean but what about stock control, or entertainment? Artificial Intelligence is a concept that’s traversed from science-fiction to reality, but is there room for it in the kitchen?
It’s early in the morning, you walk into the kitchen desperate for that first cup of coffee/tea of the day, you open the cupboard to find – you forgot to buy coffee/tea bags. Been there? We all have. This situation can be averted and with little effort on your part with the Amazon Dash Button. A simple click and your product is ordered (next day delivery as it’s prime member ONLY) without logging in or digging your payment card from your wallet/purse.
Developed by Amazon in 2014, the Dash is limited to the product that it orders and includes necessary kitchen products such as coffee, tea bags, kitchen roll, soap, washing powder and beer.
Amazon don’t just stop there with the Dash, perhaps more widely known is the Amazon Echo and Alexa. This voice-activated virtual assistant follows your commands to perform various tasks, lighting up when you speak her name. Alexa can check the weather, remind you of events or lists, search the internet for you and play your music. We all have a cooking playlist, don’t we…right? Better still, this device can provide step-by-step recipes to aid your cooking skills.
These types of devices aren’t just dominated by Amazon, as Google and Apple have their own on the market as the Home & HomePod respectively.
With growing privacy concerns, people may not jump to the idea of having a listening device in their home and personal space. As much as they are a huge benefit to the home, some consumers just want a simple way to improve their management of the kitchen without breaking the bank or subjecting themselves to privacy risks. If you’re out and about you might just want to know what you have or don’t have in your fridge to plan a later meal. Easier said than done as you would need a camera in your fridge that can show you your contents when you want; oh, that exists. The Smarter Fridgecam is a simple tool that attaches to the inside of the fridge and connected via a smart-phone to check the contents whenever you want. If you’re in the market for a smart fridge, this is a good place to start. 
It may seem that these products are answers to a more ‘first world’ issue, but the important thing to remember is that these enhance a kitchen lifestyle and are completely optional. The 21st Century is a fast moving train that we all need to get on; technology is king and long live the king.
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Patrick @ Absolute Kitchens