Usability Views Article Details  home | timeline | recent | popular | e-reports | userati | books | about  Home is where the future is (24 Sep 2004) In Seattle, for example, Microsoft's prototype home of the future is so thoroughly networked that when you ask for the time, the house answers, and when you put flour and a food processor on the kitchen counter, it asks if you would like to make some bread and offers to project the recipe on to the counter. Over at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Media Lab, Ted Selker and his colleagues are experimenting with a smart spoon. It has salt, acidity and temperature sensors, and can even understand what it is stirring. “This spoon is basically a tongue,” says Dr Selker. Using a simple display, the spoon advises you when, for example, you put too much salt or vinegar in the salad dressing, or your pudding is too hot. Counter Intelligence, another Media Lab project, uses talking ingredients to walk you through the preparation of various dishes. Dr Selker's group is also working with Stop & Shop, a retail chain, to develop handheld computers that help shoppers find the ingredients they want, and then suggest ways to prepare them. Article URL: http://www.economist.com/science/tq/displayStory.cfm?story_id=3171381 Read 53 more articles from Economist sorted by date, popularity, or title. Next Article: How Google works     This site is a labour of love built by Chris McEvoy