In collaboration with Jisu Choi & Sang In Chung
My One Kitchen is an eBook surrounded by a community where bakers of various levels come together over the simple joy of baking and to learn and share recipes. MOK is a three-part system that is comprised of a tablet, a networked measuring cup, and a movable projection unit. Beginning with the tablet, users can search for recipes by type or by what is in season, or use the food scanner to get all recipes with a particular ingredient in it. The measuring cup and projection unit work together while the baker are baking. The projection unit is controlled entirely by gestures so the baker’s hands are free during the baking process.
Below is the creative brief we developed to help give context to our eBook as we went through the design process.
THEME - Our goal is to create a community where bakers of various levels come together over the simple joy of baking and to learn and share recipes.
ATTITUDE - Light, fun, happy, educational, social, comfortable
CONCEPT - A hands-free system using a movable projection and bracelets outfitted with physical computing elements that allow the user to interact with My Own Kitchen the whole time they are baking. Users can share their favorite recipes within the MOK community as well as through Facebook, Twitter, etc. using the tablet. Users can also add their own version to a recipe card for the community to see, making it educational and social. We also wanted to create a more usable format of displaying recipes to make the preparing and baking process easier and help reduce the complication and the ambiguity of existing baking terminology.
COMPETITIVE/PRIOR-WORK POSITIONING - My Own Kitchen is more than an app or website; it is an interactive community with real time guidance to help users through the baking process as well as a place to learn and share.
CONTENT - Betty Crocker: Baking Basics
The tablet allows users to search for recipes and socially engage with the MOK community. Users start by selecting a recipe and begin baking. When they are done, they can share, edit, and comment on the recipe through the MOK social network.
The networked measuring cup displays the ingredient the user has selected on the projection and adjusts the red indicator line accordingly. This makes for a universal tool that removes the confusion from the various measuring units. It also simplifies the amount of tools used.
Once the user had decided to start baking, the projection mode becomes the primary interface. Located on any surface in the kitchen and using proximity sensor bracelets and basic gesturing, the user can navigate through the projection hands-free. To navigate, the user taps the bracelets together, then moves up, down, left, or right. While in the ingredients section, the user is able to check off ingredients they have placed in the mixing bowl by double tapping the bracelets. Once the recipe is complete, the primary interface goes back to the tablet.
The gesturing was a very challenging aspect to the MOK project. We had never worked with gesture navigation before and even at the end of the project it could have still used some tweaking. The idea and reasoning was there, but the movements we still a bit unnatural.