DailyDirt: Foodie Robots Getting More Distinguishing Palates
from the urls-we-dig-up dept
Robots (humanoid or otherwise) don't really need to eat, but they could help us wetware-based beings eat better -- if we design machines to do so. It's a bit tricky, though, for robots to experience food the way we do. However, machines could help make food safer by identifying contaminants or make foods more consistent in quality by identifying components that are necessary, for instance, to make a fine wine as fine as people think it is. Here are a few bots that might beat humans at a food/drink identification contest someday.- Mashgin is the name of a robot vision kiosk that can identify a plate of food in a few seconds (and act as an automated cashier in a high tech cafeteria.) Apparently, it can recognize the difference between a Fuji apple and a Honeycrisp, but will it also notice the shrinkage? [url]
- If you're a stickler for authentic Thai food, there's a robot that might be able to point you in the right direction when you're looking for a lunch spot. The Thai government funded an e-delicious machine to differentiate bad green Thai curry from... an authentic government standard version of green curry. Yum? [url]
- Spanish researchers at the Autonomous University of Barcelona have developed an electronic tongue that can identify beers with about 80% accuracy. The robot doesn't get drunk or tired and never gets sick of tasting beer, sorta like Homer Simpson eating donuts in hell. [url]
Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.
While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.
–The Techdirt Team
Filed Under: automation, beer, computer vision, e-delicious, foodies, mashgin, robot taster, robots, senses, taste, thai curry
Reader Comments
Subscribe: RSS
View by: Time | Thread
I want one. Then I will not have to explain to my exasperating kids what "that" is for dinner. (If I had a dollar for every time I have been greeted with "what IS THAT?" after a hard hour cooking) And I will not have to guess what my husband made (and is expecting approval for like a lonely puppy).
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
I'm available.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Downside
[ link to this | view in chronology ]