Fellow resident blogger Hannes once sarcastically mentioned
CR4's "Ditch-Your-Devices-And-Hide-In-A-Cave" series of blog entries. The truth is, we spend so much time focusing
on the cynical side of technology applications, we sometimes overlook some of the
most important ones; even the littlest of accomplishments, such as roboticizing
cooking, deserve our candor on CR4.
For example, even if you LOVE to cook, it can be a hassle
cooking every day. Not to mention it takes creativity to come up with different
meals. Even alternating cooking duties with your wife, girlfriend, roommate, dog,
etc. can get exhausting. Everything my girlfriend makes is on a tortilla.
Everything I make comes from the grill.
Well, now Watson is the one behind each meal's culinary
menu. Watson is the IBM supercomputer that beat Jeopoardy! champions Ken
Jennings and Brad Rutter in 2011, followed that by learning
and using the Urban Dictionary, and now does database searches to help medical professionals diagnose
patients. Because software is often altered for many applications, Watson has
been paired with Bon Appétit magazine to supply an endless list of unique
recipes.
It started out as Watson
paired with a food truck at 2014's South by Southwest music fest in Austin,
Texas. Customers picked a cuisine and an ingredient, and then Watson asked
questions such as ingredients the customers didn't like, or how adventurous
they were feeling with their palate. Based on an immense database that Watson
used to find food pairings and inspiration, the food truck crew made orders to
spec. Watson even provided predictions to how the food might taste, and
customers and crew were reportedly very surprised by some of the results.
Now, Chef Watson is
available as a beta that provides personalized menu options based on what
you like and is already in your kitchen. Eventually IBM plans to roll this
technology out across many industries, as any industry that can be reduced to a
recipe can be optimized by Watson's insight. That could mean Watson helps
people find the perfect car, help chemists make new hygiene products, or help
you pick out clothes (yes, even bathing suits).
That's fine for avoiding the, "What do you want for dinner?"
dialogues, but someone still has to make dinner, right? Well since now is "the
future" that's taken care of too. Recall the robo-chef that
was announced last month and is set to be on sale in 2017. Two 6-axis robot
arms are outfitted with two hands that are powered by 20 motors, 24 joints and
129 sensors. Together they seamlessly complete common kitchen tasks, and can
help a human chef or make a meal completely. An integrated dishwasher and
refrigerator are planned as well.
Moley Robotics is planning its own separate recipe database
for use with the robo-chef. But I think it's clear to everyone that a robot
that can decide what's for dinner, make it, and then clean up, is as close to
Rosie Jetson as we've ever been.
But is it worth $16,000? That is the expected cost of the
robo-chef alone, and who knows how much a Watson license might add on to that.
But that's a bargain for a full-time personal chef.
|