Counter intelligence
usually conjures up images of MI5, the CIA or James Bond.
But at the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the US, it is
the name given to an entire department which invents new
gadgets and gizmos for the kitchen. In a crude mock-up
of a Manhattan apartment kitchen, researchers are proving
how, thanks to technology, everything is becoming more
compact and functional, right down to the smallest objects.
In a plastic container,
an item commonly found in an everyday kitchen, a sensor
stuck to the lid can detect what is inside. Taking
temperature into account, it can automatically count down
the hours left until what is inside goes bad. In
a fridge the countdown is slow, but leave the container
on a counter top and the number drops quickly.
Playing with ideas
"We're playing with
temperature, with pH, and with salinity," MIT's Director
of Counter Intelligence Research, Ted Selker, told BBC
World's Click Online programme. "We're
really starting to think about what we can sense, but
more importantly how we can use the sensors to change
the way people do things, and improve them."My
most exciting example of that is a spoon that literally
teaches you how to cook, by watching and tasting, and
noticing the temperature of the thing you're mixing."
The point, he explains,
is to come up with ideas that nobody else is working on:
some of these will work, others will not. "Then
we do tests to see whether people can improve their performance
with them, or increase their safety with them. We're not
marketing things." That is why many of the experiments
have wires jutting out and appear half finished. Once
an idea is developed, it is usually taken up by a company
that makes appliances. To
an outsider some of the concepts might seem far-fetched.
One example is the pair
of oven mitts that not only have temperature sensors built
in, but also talk to you with phrases like "The food
should be checked in 40 minutes".Other
projects might seem to have more practical uses, like
the chameleon mug which is made from a combination of
LCDs, bimetal strips, thermoresisters and thermochromic
ink. The result is
a cup that tells you when it is hot. More sensors could
be added to warn of too much sugar or bad milk. One
of other ideas involves using thin reusable meltable plastic
wafers which could help reduce kitchen clutter by nearly
one-third. "The
project is called the 'dishmaker'. When you're ready to
eat and you have, say, cups but no plates, it will take
a wafer and inflate it to the right shape and depth. It's
like a variable mould," explained research assistant
Leonardo Bonanni. "Basically
it's a machine that should replace your cabinets, cupboards
and dishwasher. It automatically recycles your dishes
and then stores them very compactly as thin discs. "Right
now, the machine is really primitive: just a heater and
a pressure chamber.
"With a little bit
of air pressure, we can now take a hot piece of plastic
and form it, and with a lot more pressure it could become
as deep as a glass or as shallow as a plate or saucer."
Everything and
kitchen sink
Even the kitchen sink has
been reversioned. It can adjust its height automatically
and the surface does not have to be porcelain or metal
in a kitchen of the future. "We
looked at the biggest problems in industrial kitchens,
and they were the noise and breaking of things,"
said Mr Bonanni."We've
all experienced this when throwing dishes into the sink,
which might break them.
"Here we're trying to replace
a sink made out of steel or porcelain with silicon rubber.
It's just as soft as human flesh but it will take water
at around 700 degrees Fahrenheit, well over three times
its boiling point. "That
means it can resist breakages, and also preserve your
silverware and favourite dishes in a regular kitchen."
Kitchens of the future will keep
track of all kinds of things, according to the MIT researchers.
A kettle could display how long
it is has left to boil, for example, or appliances could
remind you what is inside and their status. A
fridge with a video camera and a computer that monitors
the entire contents could alert you if the butter has
run out the fridge, and automatically add it to the shopping
list. Spice racks could actually
dictate which spice to use for any given recipe. It
is predicted the whole kitchen environment as we know
it will change, including surfaces, as costs come down.
"We can probably make cheaper
counters than we've been making in the past," said
Mr Selker. "It is quite
likely that the materials we will have with smart things
in them,.
"Plus the floor and
counter materials are going to give more flexibility to
designers and home-makers than the natural materials -
hardwoods, granites, marble, stainless steel - that today
are so in fashion."
