30 GADGETS THAT WILL CHANGE THE WAY WE COOK FOREVER

From the coffee machine that can recognise its owner to the foam maker that can replicate every flavour: The gadgets that will change the way we cook forever
By Eddie Wrenn, Daily Mail, 21 September 2012.

The kitchen has changed much over the last 30 years.

And the change has rapidly increased over the last 10 years, with the rise of gadgets to make our lives easier when preparing our meals - and it  will likely change further over the following 10 years, with the rise of wirelessly-connected gadgets and a focus on design and function.

The following 30 gadgets will more than likely find their way on to the shelves and into our kitchens over the next few years, as all of these innovations are finalists in the Electrolux Design Lab 2012 competition.

Gadgets include the coffee-maker which recognises handprints and will always remember how you like your brew, to the automatic stirrer which stops you popping to the hob every two minutes, there are all helpful - particularly the the glass that helps blind people pour by singing as it is filled.

The grand prize will be announced next month.

1. Aeroball

Country: Poland

Designer: Jan Ankiersztajn

School: Uniwersytet Artystyczny w Poznaniu

The Aeroball is a revolutionary way to improve the spaces in which we live. In tiny bubbles that float and hover, the Aeroball cleans and filters the air while hovering in place. When filtration is not enough, the Aeroball also comes in scented varieties. Designed with inspiration from nature, the glowing shell of the sphere absorbs light during the day and radiates it at night, a delicate indoor firefly always working to improve the air that we breathe. Space is such a valuable commodity these days so the Aeroball works to purify, refresh and beautify our space to make the environments we live in a little bit more precious.

2. Cruet Salt & Pepper

Country: United Kingdom

Designer: Harry Hale

School: Nottingham Trent University

The Cruet is a salt and pepper shaker with a twist. The Cruet not only enhances the taste of your food but also increases social interaction at the dinner table between you and your guests. Using your smart phone you can select music that the Cruet will play to accompany your meal and thereby enhancing the sensory experience of the entire dinner. You can then roll the round shakers to a friend across the table keeping your dinner party lively and fun. The Cruet Salt and Pepper is a fun, new way to look at, listen to and share the way we experience food.

3. Be there

Country: Latvia

Designer: Mikus Vanags

School: Art Academy of Latvia

What if you could eat traditional Nepalese food in the Himalayas or fresh pasta on the streets of Rome? Maybe you would like a professional chef show how to cook almost any meal you want, any time you want it. Be There brings these experiences right into your very own kitchen. Be There is a virtual restaurant that lets you select your favourite locations around the globe with local cuisine and themed atmospheres. You can also watch instructional videos on preparing meals that you can enjoy together with your friends and family. Be There can take you anywhere without ever having to leave the comfort of your own home.

4. Easy Stir

Country: Norway

Designer: Lisa Frodadottir Låstad

School: Norwegian University of Science and Technology

The Easystir stirs for you so your hands are free to make the most of life. By utilising magnets that react to your induction stove the Easystir will literally save you time and money by never needing to be charged, batteries replaced or plugged into a wall socket. The stirring speed can be adjusted easily by the user while the Easystir adjusts itself to fit into almost any pot. It’s compact, dishwasher safe and can be stored as simply and neatly as any other kitchen utensil. While Easystir is hard at work in the kitchen you are free to spend more time with your friends and family.

5. Fridge Nose

Country: Lithuania

Designer: Vilius Dringelis

School: Vilnius Academy of Arts

Fridge Nose lets you know before food gets on the nose. Fridge Nose is a home appliance that displays information about the food that is stored in your fridge. Using sensors placed in the food the Fridge Nose warns you when food has expired or lets you know just how long you have left. Its magnetised base allows it to sit conveniently on the fridge so you can keep track of the freshness of your food without having to open the door. Don’t wonder when your food will expire, the Fridge Nose knows.

6. Hula Washer

Country: South Korea

Designer: Sang-soon Lee

School: Yongin University

Hula Washer is a revolutionary new product that will keep you fit while you wash your clothes. Save time and save money by using the energy you need to exercise to spin the Hula Washer, like a Hula Hoop, while it washes your clothes. Simply add your clothes and washing liquid to the hollow centre of the ring and then start to spin. And, because it is collapsible you can store it easily or take it travelling so you can be sure you’ll always have clean clothes when you need them.

7. ICE

Country: Spain

Designer: Julen Pejenaute

School: Universidad Politecnica de Valencia

ICE sheds new light on the world of cooking. ICE can not only be used as basic lamp with adjustable brightness or colour to fit the mood of any dining occasion. “Experience” is one mode used to enhance your meal by adding interactive backgrounds that react to you movements and creating dynamic links between objects on the table. When placed above any cooking or dining area ICE can scan its surroundings and assist the user in creating the best meal to suit any occasion. ICE can scan ingredients you’ve already chosen to cook and give suggestions on meals that can be made from those ingredients. The user can also access a vast database of recipes and ICE will guide you every step of the way. ICE is a great way to learn and experience a whole new world of cooking in your own home.

8. Ingresure

Country: United Kingdom/South Korea

Designer: Jongwoo Choi

School: Central Saint Martins

Professional chefs have an intuition for flavour that takes years to perfect. For the rest of us following a recipe is usually the safest way to get a dish right but the true test is always in the tasting. So, let Ingressure taste for you. Ingresure will accurately measure the ingredients of your soup, sauce or stew and let you know how much salt, pepper or spice you need to cook like a pro. Ingressure uses advanced sensors to tell you what you need and comes with multiple attachments to suit the meal you’re making. Save your tongue from scalding hot soups and let Ingressure tell you exactly what you need to cook like a 5 star chef.

9. Melodi

Country: Canada

Designer: Elena Sitnikova

School: Carleton University

What would cooking be like if you could not see? More than 39 million people worldwide are legally blind. Melodi is a device designed to allow the other senses help you in task of measuring liquids. As liquid flows through the funnel opening, sensors gauge the flow rate - and the fun begins. A musical scale allows the user to know how much liquid has been poured. When you are not using it the compact Melodi is easily stored. Melodi not only liberates those with limited sight, it also brings music and laughter to everyday kitchen tasks, creating a completely different sensual cooking experience for all users alike.

10. Mo’Shere

Country: Mexico

Designer: Yunuén Hernández

School: Centro de Investigaciones de Diseño Industrial - UNAM

The excitement and adventure of creating something new is what makes cooking fun. Mo’Sphere allows the user to experiment with and experience new flavours and sensations through the exciting world of “molecular cooking”. Until now the realm of molecular cooking has been dominated by celebrity chefs and Five Star restaurants. With Mo’Sphere your kitchen becomes a place of exciting new creations and tastes the like you’ve never known.

11. SaltSpoon

Country: Lithuania

Designer: Barbora Adamonyte

School: Vilnius Academy of Art

What’s your soup missing? The SaltSpoon! A handy little tool for the modern kitchen. Easily add accurate amounts of salt to your soup or sauce using SaltSpoon’s built-in dispenser. SaltSpoon isn’t just for salt though. Replaceable capsules allow you to choose from different ingredients to spice up any meal. SaltSpoon isn’t even just a spoon! With different head types to choose from the SaltSpoon will soon become an irreplaceable kitchen hand that fits right in the palm of your hand.

12. SensualControl

Country: Poland

Designer: Malgorzata Szostak

School: Academy of Fine Arts in Katowice

Sensual Control is a portable control panel that lets you know when your food is ready whilst allowing you to control temperature levels from anywhere in your house. Using wireless technology Sensual Control can tell you if your water is boiling, your pasta is ready or if it’s time to flip that fish. You can focus on more important things and rest assured you’ll never burn a meal. Contained within a small bracelet is all the information and control you need to prepare dinner whilst doing the things that matter most. With Sensual Control you can be the host that you want, not confined to the kitchen but free to entertain and spend time with your guests.

13. Smart Embossed Blender

Country: South Korea

Designer: HwaJin Ock

School: Changwon National University

The human hand has tens of thousands of nerve endings that allow us to tell the difference between smooth and rough or hot and cold. With the Smart Embossed Blender you can feel how smooth or rough your ingredients are while you are blending. You will no longer have to stop blending, look then start, stop and look again. Small embossed bumps on the handle of the blender change with the consistency of the ingredients as they are blended so you can save time and stay in control of your food as you prepare it.

14. SmartPlate

Country: United Kingdom/Romania

Designer: Julian Caraulani

School: Coventry University

Share the recipe of sound with SmartPlate. SmartPlate is the world’s first intelligent dish that physically understands food and transforms it into sound, completing the circle of senses by which we understand what we eat. The plate wirelessly connects to your mobile device, then by measuring different aspects of your ingredients it identifies food and precisely attaches musical notes, harmonies and rhythm to each ingredient. The user can actively listen, compose and interact with recipes of sound, sharing the experience in the most intimate way: by music.

15. Spacepan

Country: Norway

Designer: Christian Bakkhaug

School: Norwegian University of Science and Technology

Spacepan is a portable stovetop for the space-conscious cook. Since Spacepan is moveable it may be placed on the kitchen table so the whole family can be part of the cooking process. Spacepan also lets you know how hot the heating elements are using illuminated, colour indicators under each pot. Because Spacepan gives you accurate and specific readings you have greater control of your cooking so you can create delicious meals without fail. In a world where space is more valuable than ever, Spacepan gives you the freedom to cook precisely when and where you want.

16. Spummy

Country: Brazil

Designer: Alexandre de Bastiani

School: Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Paraná

The Spummy is the future of flavour creation. Using nano-technology the Spummy creates edible foam with any flavour or combination of flavours you can imagine. With endless possibilities of flavour combinations this is the perfect tool for those looking to impress. Spummy is inspired by Ferran Adrià, the inventor of flavoured foam that helped win him Restaurant of the Year four years in a row. With the Spummy the future of 5 star cuisine is possible in your own home.

17. Tempo blender

Country: Taiwan

Designer: Fu Chun Wan

School: National Yunlin University of Science and Technology

Using Tempo Blender is a fun, instructional way to mix drinks or stir sauces. The Tempo blender can tell you what and how much you need to make a variety of fresh juices, cocktails or sauces. Simply add the ingredients to the blender and shake. As you do, the blender will play music for you to shake in time to. Because you’re using your own energy to shake you save money and time not having to plug the Tempo in. Music and cooking go hand in hand; with Tempo Blender you can have both in your hands.

18. Hurricane

Country: Taiwan

Designer: Kuan-ting Ho

School: National Taipei University of Technology

The Hurricane is a fun and instructional drink mixer for those entertaining at home. All you need are the ingredients and the friends and then Hurricane will do the rest. Fancy a fancy cocktail? Choose from any number of classic drink recipes and the Hurricane will give you step by step directions for what you need and how much you need of it to make professional cocktails for you and your guests. Then with just a touch of a button, the Hurricane will mix and pour the perfect cocktail. It won’t be just another Tequila Sunrise with the Hurricane.

19. Treat

Country: Australia

Designer: Amy Mon-Chu Liu

School: Queensland University of Technology

Tree + Eat = Treat

The Treat seamlessly combines classic food storage techniques, such as vacuum sealing, with modern remote, mobile technology for the perfect combination of freshness and convenience that is more important than ever in our increasingly busy lives. The treat has a clever and intuitive way of communicating and warning you when your food is expiring by firstly, changing colour as the food ages and finally dropping from the tree when the food has expired. You can even access the Treat with a mobile app and tell it to preheat your meal before you even get home. Treat yourself to fresher food and more of your own valuable time with The Treat.

20. Wine Steward

Country: Czech Republic

Designer: Roman Blahynka

School: Brno University of Technology

The Wine Steward is a wine lover’s dream machine. Need that Chablis at a crisp 9°? Maybe you didn’t finish that bottle of Bordeaux but don’t want it to go to waste. The Wine Steward can maintain the perfect temperature for any type of wine to ensure optimal enjoyment from first drop to last. The Wine Steward also creates a vacuum within the bottle to prevent the wine from spoiling so you can be sure that an opened bottle is never a wasted bottle. So sit back, relax and let the Wine Steward pour you the perfect glass of wine every time.

21. Tide

Country: Norway

Designer: Anne Berit Kigen Bjering

School: Norwegian University of Science and Technology

What does the music of cooking sound like? Can a soup sing? Can mussels play Mozart? With the Tide the sound of food comes alive as you’re cooking to help put you and your guests in the right mood for dinner. Specially designed stirring utensils sense the motion of you cooking combined with the consistency of the food and translate these into music that compliments the complete feeling of the meal. Whether it’s upbeat, soothing or simple background ambience the Tide combines sound with the sight, smell, touch and taste of food. Finally all five senses can be swept up in the joy of cooking.

22. Touch

Country: Estonia

Designer: Markus Marks

School: Estonian Academy of Arts

Touch is the perfect companion for those who need to look professional and presentable at any given time. Touch fits into the palm of your hand and can be used to remove wrinkles from your clothes while you are still wearing them. Touch uses infrared light to smooth the fabric of your clothes and starts to work as soon as it senses the fabric, making it a safer and quicker alternative to traditional ironing.

23. Wentylor

Country: Poland

Designer: Michal Pospiech

School: Jan Matejko Academy of Fine Arts

Cool your house and calm your mind with the Wentylor. This incredible device takes the ingenuity of Leonardo Da Vinci and combines it with the fluidity of nature to create an environment that can be cooled or heated whilst taking your mind off the day to day stresses of life. The design of the Wentylor was drawn from mimicking the movement of flying birds resulting in not just a visually soothing motion but the calming, subtle sounds of fluttering wings. Invite the tranquillity of nature into your home with Wentylor.

24. AhrmaDilo

Country: United States

Designer: Christopher Carpenter

School: Virginia Tech

The AhrmaDilo Ironing System improves the entire ironing experience. The AhrmaDilo features the world’s first flexible iron (the Dilo) and an adjustable ironing board (the Ahrma). In combination the Ahrma and the Dilo create an ironing experience that works to eliminate the annoying parts of standard ironing such as, constantly shifting garments to iron them and ironing difficult parts of clothes such as sleeves and pant legs. The Dilo is wirelessly heated from the board giving it the freedom to move in ways the traditional iron could only dream of. The wall mounted Ahrma folds neatly against the wall giving you more space and no more wrestling with that old, clumsy ironing board. Simply, the AhrmaDilo takes the stress out of ironing by removing the stressful parts of ironing.

25. Airômes

Country: Italy/France

Designer: Mylène Manon Baillet

School: Domus Academy

Airômes looks to solve the problem of making genuinely tasty AND healthy food one and the same. Arguably aroma is just as important as taste when enjoying food. Airômes uses the process of vaporisation to aromatise your food with the flavours you want. You can combine essential oils with fresh herbs and create your favourite flavours or experiment to create new flavour sensations. Airômes is a quick and healthy substitute for traditional flavouring techniques that will leave you and your whole kitchen immersed in the euphoric aroma of cooking.

26. Fiery

Country: Italy/Macau

Designer: Karen I Man Cheong

School: Domus Academy

Fiery - the magic wand that brings flambé from restaurant to your home kitchen. Fiery is a very clever twist on the invention of the Davy lamp in 1815 by using fine wire mesh to isolate flame. Fiery is easy to use yet impressive. Pour the liquor in a pan or a plate, press the button to ignite the fire, and then simply remove it when the flame turns off. Make cooking more exciting than ever, impress your friends and enjoy the sight, sound and smell of Fiery.

27. Impress

Country: New Zealand

Designer: Ben de la Roche

School: Massey University

How many times have you put left overs in the fridge and forgotten about them, only to come back a week later and find them spoiled? Impress completely transforms the way we refrigerate. Impress is a refrigeration wall that holds your food and drinks for you, out in the open and not behind closed doors so you will always remember the lunch you prepared for work or find that midnight snack with ease. Also, Impress refrigerator does not refrigerate when there is nothing in it and uses less power the fewer items are pressed into it. Waste no more leftovers, waste less space and save more money with Impress.

28. Julienne

Country: France

Designer: Florent Corlay

School: L”Ecole de Design Nantes Atlantiqu

Julienne is a new food experience. By enabling guests to sense the evolution of the meal, shown through changing music and shifting ambient light the progression of the food‘s journey from simple ingredients to a delicious meal. Thus, allowing your guests to live the food before eating, smelling or seeing it. Moreover, the host or hostess can understand the cooking state while listening to the music and watching the diffused light, thereby allowing them the opportunity to relax and enjoy time with their guests.

29. Memory

Country: China

Designer: WenYao Cai

School: Guangdong Industry Technical College of China

A small but important part of many people’s lives is the intimacy of having a barista who remembers who you are and more importantly how you have your coffee. Memory is a coffee maker that uses hand print recognition to make the right cup of coffee for the right person. Whether you want weak, medium or strong coffee or maybe you prefer an espresso to a ristretto. Any way that you might think the perfect cup of coffee is made, Memory will remember every time. You tell it what you want, it scans your hand and the next time you want that exact same cup of coffee Memory is ready and waiting to serve it to you.

30. Tastee

Country: Denmark

Designer: Christopher Holm-Hansen

School: Technical University of Denmark

Don’t you wish you had the sophisticated palette of a professional chef? The Electrolux Tastee is a taste indicator that is used when cooking to assist the chef in bringing out the flavours in the meal. The Tastee is the shape and size of a regular spoon but with one main difference, The Tastee tastes for you. Using receptors based on the human taste bud the Tastee tells you what you need, what you don’t and maybe even something you would never imagine. Tastee helps you make the perfectly balanced, flavourful meal for you and your family to enjoy.

[Source: Daily Mail. Edited. Top image and below link added.]

See: Electrolux Design Lab 2012 - 30 Semi-finalists presented