John Costello

Future Kitchen

An interface wherever you need it.

Kitchen controls are fixed to appliances, which can mean reaching, bending, or stepping away from the task. I explored an interface that could appear wherever and whenever it was needed.

My roleI was the sole designer, leading the concept, interactions, and prototype in collaboration with Matthias Stahl, Miele’s Head of Advanced Design.

Contextual projection

Bring out a pan and controls suddenly appear.

Cooking controls appear as a pan is placed on the work surface

Ceiling-mounted cameras detect cookware, and projectors display controls beside it. Ingredient quantities for a recipe are shown when and where needed.

Projected ingredient indicator beside a pan as liquid is added
Dynamic ingredient indicators show recipe quantities beside the pan, when and where they’re needed.

Adjust the controls with a gesture.

Adjust the controls with a gesture.

Bring every dish to the table together.

Linked cooking zones coordinated their timing so dishes could finish together.

Bring every dish to the table together.

The outcome

A working prototype.

Projected cooking controls appearing beside cookware on a kitchen surface
Dynamic affordances and UI appear only when needed

The prototype led to plans for a full-scale interactive installation at the Milan Design Fair. I relocated to the United States before the installation was realized.

  1. 01
    DetectPeople, objects, and gestures
  2. 02
    ProjectControls beside the pan
  3. 03
    RespondAdjust with gestures
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