Cooking naturally, infodomestic in the kitchen

The Cooking Naturally project is my master’s degree thesis on the topic of food waste.

The design phase of the thesis led to All, a connected kitchen device that helps people not to waste food.

All is designed for people living in shared flats or alone. Due to the lifestyles and lack of attention that the market offers to this category of people, they are the categories most exposed to food waste.

All gives these people advice on shopping, food storage, preparation and consumption based on what it has learned from its users.

All is used in the kitchen during food preparation and consumption. It is able to recognise the person using it and understand their words and gestures. All integrates itself into the usual dynamics of the kitchen, letting people concentrate on normal activities, such as preparing a recipe or storing food.

All thus becomes a tool that enhances the responsible cooking experience, not the core of the experience.

Concept

The Cooking Naturally project aims to improve people’s food management habits, and it does so through the design of an interactive device that can fit naturally into the activities that take place in the kitchen every day.

Goal

Creating a smart appliance that can help people reduce food waste in the home.

Every year of 100% of the food in the home, 40% is wasted.

Strategy

Over the past few years, eco-friendly recipe books have been written, websites have been developed containing tips and tricks on how to make the best use of food, and shopping planning applications have been developed.

This information constitutes a cloud of valuable information that can only be accessed by tools that were not designed for use in the kitchen.

The strategy adopted to try to curb the problem of food waste was to design a kitchen device capable of creating a direct channel between people and the cloud of information created in recent years around the issue of food waste.

Users

All is designed for people living in shared tenancy situations. These people, due to their living conditions and lifestyles, are the groups most exposed to food waste.

The reasons for this wastage are mainly: overemphasis on the appearance of food, poor planning of food expenditure, high mobility, inadequate food supply from distribution and management of kitchen space.

All connects people with information from virtual communities with an interest in less food waste, All attempts to leverage the sense of belonging to these communities by trying to give people who use it the motivation to improve their behaviour.

It also provides consumption suggestions, based on certain criteria such as the expiry date of the food, the type of food, the time of day, the season and the location. To ensure that people consume fresh food when it is far from spoiling and that the recommendations are appropriate for people.

All can print out a small paper inventory of the food in the house, a first small step to help people make a shopping list and to avoid the tenants of the same house, a strict division of kitchen space.

All's favourite space is the kitchen, Dario (user) places him on the kitchen worktop where All can have a good view of the whole room. Once connected, All introduces himself to his user and explains his role in the kitchen in natural language. He also explains to him how to interact with it, Dario must give directions and add 'All' to the end of each command.

All would then display a message on the screen: My name is All, what is your name? Dario replies: 'My name is Dario, All'. From now on, All will recognise Dario's commands.

Dario comes home with his groceries and lets All know: "I've done the shopping, All." All replies with a beep and an empty shopping trolley appears on the screen.

To tell All exactly how many and which items he has purchased, Dario places them on the kitchen worktop where All can read the information by scanning the items' barcodes or simply their shapes and colours (e.g. vegetables and fresh produce). All then processes the information collected and determines the expiry date of the products.

If Dario wanted to change the storage method (e.g. he wants to freeze fresh green beans) he would have to select the item from the All screen and overwrite the expiry date.

Dario can now store all items without giving any further commands. When Dario removes all items from the worktop, All knows that his recording task has been completed.

Immediately before lunch or dinner time All would suggest to Dario which food to consume first according to its expiry date; for the remainder of the day All would inform Dario with useful information, e.g. how to store it appropriately for the current season.

Tesi completa

In the thesis publication you can find more info on graphics, instructions, gestures, 3D design models and prototypes.

fabio nucatolo

A tool that helps people not to waste food.Masters Degree thesis in interaction design, Iuav University of Venice.