Years from now, cooking your own food could be as antiquated as washing your clothes by hand or standing up to change the television channel. Moley’s Robotic Kitchen has been showing off its robot chef prototype, and when it reaches market, it’ll cook your meals in a contained box that covers the stove. Arms will reach down from overhead like a scene from The Jetsons and cook for you.
“The precision movement is mesmerizing, except when there’s nothing for the hands to do, at which time they hang over the steaming pan almost as if they’re casting a spell over a cauldron,” said DigitalTrends’s Andy Boxall, who went hands-on with a prototype in a report published Sunday. “It ends with the robot arms serving the dish in a bowl, complete with garnish, so all you have to do is pick up a spoon.”
The robot is a dab hand at cooking, chopping, stirring, and even serving. Boxall was treated to a crab bisque that mimics Tim Anderson from BBC Masterchef. The robot even performed the same hand movements as Anderson. Overall, the process took around 25 minutes.
It’s not looking good for chefs. The culinary industry looks like it could join areas like retail and transportation among the growing list of jobs ripe for automation. The shift in the labor market could make universal basic income a necessity as those made unemployed by automation are moved to retrain or work fewer hours.
It may sound like a great way to save time at home, but kitchen-shy future lovers will have to wait awhile before they can kiss goodbye to their oven mitts. The robot isn’t expected to reach the market until 2018, and with prices expected to reach up to $100,000, it will probably be much longer before it reaches anywhere near the realms of affordability.
