visual inventory for the spontaneous chef

January 29th, 2009 admin

The process of preparing food extends beyond the physical space of the kitchen and reaches into the various markets and retail outlets where ingredients and supplies are purchased.  The ingredients themselves dictate the scope of the final preparation. This conceptual design is based upon the needs of a chef that enjoys a spontaneous process in regards to the preparation of food.  This design will also cater to those interested in monitoring their dietary habits.

Please note, this interface assumes that a grocery inventory system is in place.  As a user returns to their residence with the purchased groceries, the items would be either scanned by a bar-code reader or manually entered into a inventory database.

Any large flat surface (vertical or horizontal) can be used to host the primary interface of this design.  As the user enters the kitchen, they simply have to press the button labeled ‘begin’ to reveal a categorical view of the available ingredients within the kitchen.  The touch interface allows the user to expand and ‘drill down’ into the various categories allowing for an initial high level perspective of all the ingredients available and their respective quantities.  When satisfied with the available ingredients, the user simply has to click on a given item (one click will select one unit, multiple clicks will select multiple units) and the interface will automatically shift the ingredient into the ’selected ingredients’ field while simultaneously deducting the ingredient from the household inventory.  When the user has finished planning the meal, they select ‘complete’ which calculates the overall calories of the selected ingredients as well as the overall cost for that given meal.  The set of ingredients is then associated with a unique ID allowing for a form of meal tracking, or simply the formation of spontaneous recipes to be archived for future convenience.  The visual queue presented by the list of selected items ensures that no ingredients are over-looked by the spontaneous cook.

The associated image set illustrates the process of planning an evening meal.

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