top of page

SMART KITCHEN PROTOTYPE

AN INTERACTIVE COOKER HOOD

As part of the course "Physical Computing", held by Professor Maurizio Caporali, we were tasked with satisfying the request of a real company, Franke. The company asked for a projection system to include in one of their product, the cooker hood "Nuvola" ("Cloud" in italian). The projector would show information useful information, such as the degree of the hob in the stove, a timer and recipes. 

​

The professor added some requests of his own: no gesture recognition, for example. We needed to be creative in how we would conceive our system.

Research

BENCHMARK 

INTERVIEWS

CRITICAL SCENARIOS

RESEARCH OF THE PROBLEM

on the IoT systems for the kitchen, on the sensors to detect smoke levels and temperature, on the possible systems of connection between devices (bluetooth, wi-fi, wi-fi direct), and, of course, on cooker hood, especially those that purify the air.

the attachment is for the benchmark done by me. The benchmark, as a whole, was a collective effort.

we asked to 20 users between 20 and 55 years old how they usually carry out their activities in the kitchen, the critical events they have to deal with and in how they would like to be assisted when they work in the kitchen. In this way we found common problems and designed critical scenarios.

With the data obtained from the interviews, critical scenarios have been outlined where potential users encounter some difficulties related both to the activities they perform in the kitchen and to the use of the devices.

ELABORATION OF CONCEPTS

Each of us has defined some concepts related to the environment, moods, moods and actions related to the kitchen. Through a brainstorming phase we have chosen four of the proposed concepts:

​

  • Mood: atmosphere (lights, sounds, interfaces) changes according to the recipe or to the music in reproduction.

​

  • Time: the kitchen starts a stopwatch every time the dish is placed on the stove or in the oven. Based on my actions over time, learn about my habits and adapt accordingly.
    The kitchen also warns me if a dish has been on the stove for too long even with the ideal cooking temperature.

​

  • Organization: once you have decided what to cook, the kitchen guides me step by step in organizing things to do by adapting to the situation.
    The kitchen organizes my work also thinking about some activities to do with children, basing the quantities of ingredients and actions to be done so that adults and children can cook together while having fun.

​

  • To-do list: The kitchen guides me in the recipe I want to do, providing useful and targeted information to cook the dish I want.

attachment for the concept I created.

PERSONAS

Cecilia,

a 42-year-old working mom who for some time has decided to devote herself more to her little ones, transforming her job into part time. She is a very precise and calm person, cooking is a moment of relaxation and experimentation for her. She possesses basic skills related to the use of devices for work and personal use - mac, iphone and tablet. She does not use a lot social media, but likes to use App of the cooker hood to search and customize recipes.

​

Mario,

a 32-year-old computer programmer who lives alone. He is intolerant to gluten and tomato. He is a lover of technology and attentive to nutrition. Cooking in your free time and love trying new recipes. He has no children or a girlfriend, but he has a cat called Arthur.

ENVISIONING SCENARIOS

Prototype

Cecilia,

in the first, based on the person of Cecilia, the kitchen guides the user in the preparation of the Catalan cream. In this scenario the projector plays a major role.

​

Mario,

in the second, based on the person of Mario, the user uses the new smart kitchen for the first time and prepares a quick meal. Sensors play a major role in this scenario.

THE PROTOTYPE
sketch of te system

We have created the prototype of the kitchen island, including the following components:

  • induction hob; 

​​

  • hood, suspended on the hob and supported by some steel cables connected to the ceiling; also intended as an intelligent device separate from the projector but connected to it;

​​

  • projector, connected to an induction bar on the work surface;

​​

  • induction bar, which serves both to support and to recharge the projector and possibly other devices (ladles with sensors);

​​

  • controller, which manages the functions of the hood and the projector that allows the user an easier interaction;

​​

  • ladle and fork with sensors (only at the concept level);

​​

  • smartphone app, to configure the kitchen, search for recipes and videos and to synchronize to music platforms (eg Spotify).

prototype of the hood
projection of the hood

My role, in the construction of the prototype, was the creation of the wireframes for the projection 

WIREFRAMES

PROJECTION

The projection displays infos about the state of the stove, recipes taken from the web; Videos from Youtube or others and Music. 

CONTROLLER

Screen: shows the mode of the projector (if it is projection the cooker info, the music or a video).

​

Interactions:

· Press + rotate to change the four modes;

· Press to play and pause (for each mode);

· Shuffle right to move forward in steps or to change music;

· Shuffle left to go back in steps or in music;

· Turn to adjust the volume

controller hood

attachment to the full presentation

bottom of page