The Counter Intelligence/Kitchen Sync White Paper is a look at the future of kitchen and domestic technology. It serves as an introduction to designs, fundamental technologies and future developments in this field.
Introduction |
|
![]() |
This paper presents a vision of a future. In the last two decades, a great deal of time and research has been spent on "Living Room of the Future" projects. These usually meant big screen televisions, quadraphonic sound and strategically placed sofas. The problem with the living room is that it's a passive environment: the user sits and absorbs, be it reading the newspaper or watching television. Compare this to the fundamentally interactive kitchen. |
Let us step back one hundred years into a kitchen of the 1890s. It was barely recognisable as today's hygenic, (hopefully) aesthetically pleasing center of the home. Refrigeration was at best performed by lumps of iced delivered intermitantly; electricity absent, and most heat provided by coal or wood stoves. It was the domain of the servants, or perhaps the wife of the household, hidden at the back of house. Think of the progress of the last one hundred years; then think of the progress of the next one hundred years. | |
The kitchen is an intrinsically dynamic environment. Raw materials enter, are processed and leave. The user of the kitchen invariably contributes to that processing, whether it be putting a pre-frozen lasagna in the microwave or meticulously leafing through The Joy of Cooking for a four-course dinner. As the two-way conversation of the Internet is to the one-sided oratory of television, Kitchen Sync is to the Living Room of the Future. | |
Kitchen Sync, the vision behind Counter Intelligence, is a digitally connected, self-aware kitchen which has knowledge and memory of its activities. It is a multifaceted system, consisting of both intelligent individual elements and, fundamentally, connectivity between those elements. In practice, we are building individual components, while maintaining design philosophies that encourage inter-unit communication. Within the Personal Information Architecture group, we are also building an infrastructure, Hive, specifically designed to enable communication between such elements. | |
We present here a basic overview of the three stages of devices which comprise Kitchen Sync. References to individual projects will be made clear as we go into more depth on the theories behind their operation. |
At the lowest level of intelligent elements are devices which are only aware of themselves and do not communicate to the outside. One of the first realizations in working with Things That Think is that this is simply not interesting. With intelligence comes the need to communicate, to move data in and out. |
|
The third stage of Kitchen Sync has components that are not only self aware but have some memory of their use. A Mr. Java coffee cup is tagged with a simple RFID tag, functioning similarly to a barcode. A given cup merely knows it is, say, object #1422722. A single step along is a coffee cup that knows when it was last used and will release this information when asked - perhaps by a coffee machine, or a desk that wants to make sure your coffee doesn't get cold. Perhaps more useful is a fridge door that knows when it was last opened - and if it's been closed since that point. The simple addition of memory adds a wealth of possibilities for an item. |
One can also think of this third stage of 'having memory' as being aware of temporal sequences. Mr. Java, a second stage device, functions in the instant: when a cup is presented, he makes coffee and plays the news. Each cup is treated as a separate isolated incident, unrelated to the one before it. Counter Intelligence, however, is aware of time and sequence - it's important to add the flour before putting on the icing, for example. | |
We can continue along this trail: one project for the future is to produce a fridge which is aware of its contents, and can take action based on that awareness. We envisage a fridge that is not only aware how much milk it contains, but also orders more should that milk run out. Once a fridge - or a cupboard, a pantry, a larder - is completed, Kitchen Sync will have reached a stage where there is a serious possibility of using the intelligent Kitchen on a day-to-day basis. | |
Eventually, we hope to assemble an entire intelligent kitchen environment and spend time working within the space and using the equipment on a day to day basis. In the long term, of course, we hope to see Kitchen Sync projects being used in commercial and residential kitchens. |
|
Mr. Java is an intelligent coffee machine. It's based on an Acorto 2000s automatic coffee machine, which in its unaltered state makes a variety of hot coffee and milk based drinks at the touch of a button. By interfacing with the diagnostic serial port, we were able to control Mr. Java by means of a tag reader placed under the spout. |
The user places their cup under the spout, as usual. The reader located under the spout reads the tag on the bottom of the cup and transmits the result to a computer. The computer would then issue commands to the Acorto to make the appropriate drink, and play the associated RealAudio feed through the speakers. | |
Mr. Java does not gather information on individual users' coffee use, although it provided that facility by letting users set their own URL for their audio feed, which would let users keep track of their own consumption. However, we did keep track of overall consumption, including dividing the data by day and by hour over time. For example, we saw a consistent daily pattern: |
|
|
Morning coffees peaked at 11am, and we saw another mid-afternoon peak at 3pm. Barely visible at 9pm is our first espresso peak; apparently, if you're still drinking coffee at 9pm, then it better be espresso. |
This kind of information was of great interest to many sponsors: both Kraft Foods, owner of Maxwell House, and P&G, owner of Folgers, spend a great deal of time and effort tracking usage statistics such as these. Presently, it's entirely done by hand: someone sits next to the coffee machine with a clipboard. Mr. Java's type of unobtrusive monitoring that can actually add value to the product being purchased has possibilities for a wide variety of applications. | |
Mr. Java has been a great success. EDS purchased an entire system for their Dallas MarketSpace of the Future, and are presently considering assembling another ten systems for various offices and showrooms. Kyle Anderson, CEO of Acorto, sees Mr. Java as the missing element between a regular Acorto automatic espresso machine and the barista: it provides entertainment. A barista chats about the weather, tells jokes; Mr. Java adds back that functionality. There are currently plans to exhibit a Mr. Java in Acorto's main lobby. |
|
The concept of an intelligent fridge - Cool I/O - is one that seems fundamental to the intelligent kitchen. We see a fridge as performing, a number of functions. |
Primary and most fundamental is the ability to identify objects within it. This simple sentence encompasses an entirely non-trivial problem: a later chapter deals with some of the technological possibilities that could make this occur. What has become clear is that once this hurdle is overcome, there are a vast number of advantages to everyone who interacts with a product, from manufacturer to consumer. |
|
We see an initial application in the commercial kitchen, which, by virtue of sheer turnover and capital investment, has much greater need for Counter Intelligence's information-tracking capabilities. Specifically, we see a fridge that can keep track of its contents, including, for any given item, the location in the fridge or fridges, dates that item entered the fridge or was used, and expiration dates. | |
An obvious next step in this endeavor involves keeping track of desired contents. For example a home might wish to keep at least one gallon of 2% milk, not more than two days old, at all times. From this it is a simple matter to have automatic shopping list generation or, logically, online ordering to replace staple items through a grocery delivery service. | |
An intelligent freezer would perform many of the same functions, but would perhaps be easier to prototype, as objects that go in or out of a freezer are generally either in Tupperware-type packaging or in their original packaging. | |
We see the development of CoolIO or a similar intelligent fridge as a fundamental part of the Counter Intelligence vision. | |
In the summer of 1997, the fledgling Kitchen Sync team worked on an intelligent fridge that kept track of all contents entering or leaving the fridge through a doorway-mounted barcode reader. We found that this user interface was entirely impractical, and massively inadequate for any consumer use. We expect that a fridge that knows what it contains will have to rely on an RFID-like tagging scheme. |
|
We see all kitchen appliances as having the facility to be integrated into the Kitchen Sync environment: cameras above stoves can ensure that a watched pot never boils over. Tagged Tupperware can work in conjunction with your sink so it knows when it's dirty, when it's clean and what it's got in it. Dishwashers know what they have inside - and when what's inside needs to be clean. Trash cans sort recyclables and know when they're full. |
However, much of this level of automation is only possible when the entire kitchen as a whole is aware. The above projects, particularly Counter Intelligence and CoolIO present fundamental portions of the Kitchen Sync vision. Much of the brainstorming to create these ideas has been through the establishment of scenarios: given a situation, what could Kitchen Sync do to help you? We present an example, and encourage readers of this paper to do so within their particular fields of interest. |
|
Kitchen!" you announce, bringing Kitchen Sync out of its sleep. |
The sounds of John Coltrane fill the air as you assemble the ingredients list projected on the wall, with the Kitchen only occasionally advising you on where you last put the baking powder. You put a mixing bowl down on the counter, and look at the wall. The recipe is replaced with a grinning foot-high character in a tall cook's hat, who points at the flour. You pick it up. | |
"Four cups of flour." You start pouring. "One cup... two... three... three and half... and stop." You put the flour back on the counter. "You can put that away now. You won't be needing it. And it'll make the place tidy." |
|
Guess you accidentally engaged the "Mother" mode. Still, you continue with the rest of the recipe, mixing and stirring. The Kitchen reminds you of the substition, and suggests you use low-fat chocolate - a suggestion you cheerfully ignore, despite a twinge of guilt as it updates the calorie count at the bottom of the page. It's only a matter of sliding the cake into the pre-heated oven and waiting until the Kitchen reminds you to take it out. And if you're in the shower when that happens? No need to worry: your Kitchen will remember to turn the oven off, even if you don't. |
|
We've discovered a lot of ways to look at human-computer interaction, and the very concept of data, in the process of working with Mr. Java and Kitchen Sync. The first is a common enough realization at the Media Lab: that we exist in a cloud of bits, a set of information about your current condition. Today we mainly think of bits as perhaps graphics, webpages, QuickTime movies. In Personal Information Architecture, we go beyond this definition and see bits as a spectrum, ranging from the fixed and quantifiable to the fuzzy and intangible. |
For example, I am six foot two inches tall. That's a constant and relatively unchanging bit. Continuing along our spectrum of bits, I have a body temperature, pulse and blood pressure that are measurable and recordable using a variety of sensors. Nearer the other end of the spectrum, I may be hungry, or want a particular kind of coffee today. These are far less fixed and easy to measure: hunger is a function of blood sugar, but goes unnoticed with sufficient levels of adrenaline in the bloodstream. |
|
Radio Frequency Identification has the potential to be one of the most widely used and powerful identifying technologies we have. Tags can be battery powered or unpowered, and can be purchased in a variety of sizes and configurations to allow for a wide range of uses. They are contactless, and require neither touch nor line of sight. In particular, they work through plastic, wood, and other materials, and can be set up to work in harsh environmental conditions, where barcodes or less robust equipment would be unable to function.Our classic example of this is under the spout of Mr. Java, where a polyurethane-encased reader is regularly subjected to 245°F espresso. The kitchen is no place for fragile technology. |
There are a wide variety of RFID tags. The simplest work in much the same way a barcode does, giving out a single pre-programmed number when placed in the vicinity of a reader. It's also possible to store a limited amount of information on the tags themselves. Research is currently underway to produce tags that report information about their physical environment, such as temperature or position, in addition to readable and writable storage. | |
The current (temporary) argument against RF tags is that of cost. Compared to a printed barcode, the cost is presently prohibitive except in harsher environments unsuited to barcodes or more elaborate packaging systems, such as the EZPass toll-paying system.. Currently, a simple tag has a lower price limit of approximately ten cents: too much to put on a packet of cornflakes, but an entirely reasonable way to track the history of a $300 jacket. A tagged world will arrive, one bit at a time. |
|
The point of all of these different methods of identification is that there are a plethora of technologies with a variety of attributes that can be adapted to nigh-on any use. Encoding of information is not a single-choice arena, and includes ones that I didn't mention, from magnetic strips on cards to touch recognition technologies. In considering any technology design it is important to take into account the wide variety of methods in which relevant data can be encoded. |
|
The field of domestic media is one that will truly come to fruition in the next decade. We currently have use of barcode and RFID technology almost entirely in industrial and commercial settings. As with the computer, the pager, and the microwave, we can expect this technology to start to be integrated in to home life. |
We're frequently asked how long it will be until we see Kitchen Sync technology entering the marketplace. Different pieces of technology will no doubt take different periods of time to really become useful. Mr. Java is currently starting to move into the marketplace, with the help of generous support and interest from EDS and Acorto. MicroChef / PC Dinners technology is already arriving in the home in a variety of forms, notably in the Japanese market. Longer term projects include Counter Intelligence and CoolIO, which currently appear to be in the ten-year range, as they require greater investment in an infrastructure and information base. Both will be effected by the degree of growth of shop-from-home services such as Peapod. | |
We are currently at the Model T stage of computers. The Model T is still known, seventy years later, for being available in any colour you wanted, so long as it was black. Computers are currently available in any size you want, so long as they're a box. You can buy boxes that sit under your table, on your table, in your bag or in your pocket, but they're all boxes. | |
Kitchen Sync is one example of technology designed to not be a box but instead be a coffee cup, a counter, a toy. A vast quantity of research at the Media Lab is engaged in making non-box computers. Kitchen Sync and the Counter Intelligence SIG show an extremely exciting and viable area of research in this arena with a great number of both commercial and research possibilities |
PC Dinners | Webb Chappell |
Mr. Java | Webb Chappell |
Mr. Java by Hour | http://mrjava.media.mit.edu/byday.gif |
Counter Intelligence | Brad Geilfuss |
Mort & Irv | Webb Chappell |
Sandy, Jofish,Mort | Raffi Krikorian |
Barcode | http://www.milk.com/barcode/ |
Fingerprint | http://www.linguafranca.com/9804/images/fingerprint.gif |
IR Badge | Webb Chappell |
Rosie Jetson | http://www.cybercomm.nl/~ivo/photo_ROSIE.html |
|
My primary acknowledgement is to the members of the Personal Information Architecture group for all varieties of help from technical to emotional. Particular thanks must go to Kristin Hall for invaluable editing, friendship and support, Niko Matsakis, without whom none of this would have been possible, and my research advisor, Professor Mike Hawley - despite, and perhaps due to, his love for appalling puns in project names. A note of thanks is also due to Matt Lau for the name "Counter Intelligence." |
Another serious acknowledgement is due to those I live, work, rehearse and play with for the amount of time and support they have given me while I worked at the Lab instead of being with them. My family and my girlfriend, Allison Wolf, have given me constant, incredible and invaluable support, and Roadkill Buffet and my various theatrical endeavors have kept me sane. Without my friends, I would have and be nothing. | |
A great deal of thanks is also due to the sponsors of the Things That Think consortium and Counter Intelligence SIG for providing funding for this research. |