Moley Robotics makes robotic cooking arms with the dexterity to whip up lobster bisque and wipe up spills. But with a release date of 2017 and projected price of over $14,000, you won’t see them in homes anytime soon. Still, the idea of getting a robot to cook for you — at a more affordable price — was alive and well at CES 2016.
TNL’s OneCook is a cooking robot that drops food from separate containers into a pot-like device and heats and stirs it. It follows the recipes on the accompanying app to get the timing right and has RFID technology so the onions get added before the garlic, for example. Creator Hanlin Hong says some meals can be ready in about five minutes. You can order meals, each under $10, from the app, or you can add your own ingredients and recipes to the dispensers and app.
The prototype is definitely not counter-ready. It looks like a portable air conditioner. Inside are the individual dispensers that hold the food and a pot that gets heated. There’s also a stirring apparatus and place for boiled water to drain. The interior isn’t big enough to flip a steak, but the OneCook can make you some mac and cheese. When I dropped by, I got a taste of stir-fried green beans, which were pretty flavorful, if a tad limp.
Hong says the robot will cost between $200 and $400, though when it debuts on Kickstarter, you’ll be able to get one for between $100 and $200.
The Sereneti Cooki was at CES 2016 as well. Instead of encasing everything in a shell, its cooking process is pretty out in the open. Inside houses the trays for all the ingredients, and these trays flip over into the bowl at the recipe’s designated times. A robotic arm with a spatula-like utensil stirs the ingredients as an induction heater cooks the food. CEO Timothy Chen is hoping to partner with companies like Blue Apron, which could deliver you pre-packaged trays with all the ingredients, taking that extra cooking step out of the ingredient-delivery equation.
But even if you’re not the one doing the cooking, there’s still cleaning. “It’s a $50 robotic arm,” Chen says of the Cooki. “You can actually take the arm off, because there’s no electricity from the shoulder on down.” That means it’s also dishwasher safe.
Sereneti plans on charging around $500 for the Cooki, which will ship later this year.
Outdoor security cameras are not always practical if you live in an apartment or rental. Drilling into an exterior wall may be off-limits, while pointing a regular indoor camera through a window can create another problem once reflections start showing up after dark.
Baseus is trying to solve both issues with the new PrimeSentinel W1, a $69.99 security camera designed specifically to monitor the outdoors through glass. It mounts directly to a window without drilling and uses a 4K Starlight sensor with an F1.0 aperture for full-color monitoring during the day and at night.
This post is brought to you in paid partnership with Best Buy.
Technology evolves every day, transforming how we live and work. Our devices are becoming more than tools we use. They are increasingly capable companions that help streamline day-to-day routines and spark creative ideas. If you have been waiting for the right moment to upgrade your tech setup, the Discover Samsung Shopping Event offers an opportunity to explore what connected, AI-powered living can look like.
With AI progressing so fast, it's only a matter of time before we start getting AI companions like the ones we used to see in movies like R2-D2, Wall-E, or Baymax. Now, Singapore-based OKA Technology has unveiled Mori, a cute little AI companion that looks less like a conventional home robot and more like someone turned the Pokémon Foongus into a table lamp.
Mori isn't meant to clean your house or control your smart home, but to serve as what OKA calls a "Nature Companion." It uses subtle movements, warm lighting, nature-inspired sounds, and small reactions to make its presence around the house feel calming rather than distracting. Mori can sit quietly while you read, sway along to music, welcome you when you enter a room, or encourage you to slow down for a moment without requiring a screen or a conversation.