Core77

This Heat-Map Microwave Would Let You See Exactly How Hot Your Food Is

By Rain Noe - February 12, 2015

in Food | Product Design

Innovative designers draw connections between things that no one else has thought of yet. And this insight from Mark Rober is particularly brilliant. He observed that:

1) Putting food in a microwave is often a crapshoot; we've all eaten too-hot or too-cold food.

2) The price of infrared cameras is coming down.

Wouldn't it be awesome, Rober thought, if we could actually see the temperature of our food via an infrared lens and screen built into your nuke? Here's how he envisions these elements coming together:

Enter a caption (optional)

By the bye, science enthusiast Rober is no armchair quarterback—the man formerly worked at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, for chrissakes. And like he said in the video, he's not asking you for money a la Kickstarter to realize this idea; he's already lined up investors, but now needs signatures on a petition to prove consumer interest. So if you'd like to help this project along without laying out any scratch, click here.

o

Favorite This
Q
1

Comment

Comments

G Strand

9 years ago

Z

Z

Reply

1) Observation: Having "NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory" on one's resume may indeed suggest valuable experience -- but it does not necessarily prove one to be the fabled rocket-scientist, nor a thermal engineer, product designer, or skilled chef.
2) Skepticism: Thermal imaging is based on a camera/sensor that "sees" heat, being radiated by a target object, in the infra-red spectrum. But, an IR sensor only sees the relative -- surface --temperatures. It does not look inside the target object or food item.
3) Problem: A substantive food item which might actually be sizzling hot on the outside, will thus appear to glow brightly -- but can still conceal raw, uncooked or cold areas within. [You can't judge a (burrito) by its cover.] Sorry Rober, slick video, but the real heat transfer mechanics -- aren't so "really simple", as you proclaim here.
4) Apple-ian aphorism: There are two kinds of design. Design in our heads, and design in the real world. [One needs to demonstrate both]
____ Doktor S

!Report as spam