U.S. patent application number 17/692334 was filed with the patent office on 2022-06-23 for food container system with image processing and method.
The applicant listed for this patent is KENWOOD LIMITED. Invention is credited to Gilman GRUNDY, Paul PALMER.
Application Number | 20220198772 17/692334 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 1000006185639 |
Filed Date | 2022-06-23 |
United States Patent
Application |
20220198772 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
PALMER; Paul ; et
al. |
June 23, 2022 |
FOOD CONTAINER SYSTEM WITH IMAGE PROCESSING AND METHOD
Abstract
A method and container for providing an enclosure for a food
item includes a plurality of grading marks and a docking station to
dock an electronic device. Yet further, the system includes a
processor configured to take one or more pictures of the food item
using the electronic device, transmit the one or more pictures to a
cloud, receive recommended recipes for the food item and display
the recommended recipes.
Inventors: |
PALMER; Paul; (Havant,
GB) ; GRUNDY; Gilman; (Havant, GB) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
KENWOOD LIMITED |
Havant |
|
GB |
|
|
Family ID: |
1000006185639 |
Appl. No.: |
17/692334 |
Filed: |
March 11, 2022 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
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16715373 |
Dec 16, 2019 |
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17692334 |
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14826459 |
Aug 14, 2015 |
10635921 |
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16715373 |
|
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62037142 |
Aug 14, 2014 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
1/1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G06F 1/1632 20130101;
G06F 16/9554 20190101; A47J 43/044 20130101; B65D 2203/00 20130101;
G06V 10/147 20220101; G06F 16/434 20190101; A47J 43/07 20130101;
A47J 36/321 20180801; A45C 2011/002 20130101; G06F 16/50 20190101;
B65D 25/54 20130101; G06V 10/10 20220101; G06V 20/68 20220101 |
International
Class: |
G06V 10/147 20060101
G06V010/147; A47J 36/32 20060101 A47J036/32; A47J 43/044 20060101
A47J043/044; G06F 16/955 20060101 G06F016/955; G06F 16/50 20060101
G06F016/50; G06F 16/432 20060101 G06F016/432; G06V 10/10 20060101
G06V010/10 |
Claims
1. A method comprising: obtaining image data relating to a food
item; delivering the data to a processor, and using the processor
to carry out the steps of: obtaining information relating to the
weight of the food item by; calculating the volume occupied by the
food item based on one or more pictures of the food item; accessing
the food database to obtain the density of the food item based on
the type of food item; and obtaining the weight of the food item
from the density of the food item, and the volume of the food item;
comparing the image data with comparative data in a database;
determining, based on the comparative data and the additional
information, the type and quantity of the food item; selecting,
based on the determined type and quantity, a recipe relating to the
food item, the recipe comprising food preparation information
relating to a plurality of food preparation steps, including
configuration information relating to at least one food preparation
step to be carried out by a kitchen appliance; providing the
configuration information to the kitchen appliance; and configuring
the kitchen appliance to carry out the at least one food
preparation step based on the configuration information.
2. Image processing apparatus comprising: an electronic device
arranged to obtain image data relating to a food item, and to
deliver the data to a processor, the processor being configured to:
obtain information relating to the weight of the food item by;
calculating the volume occupied by the food item based on one or
more pictures of the food item; accessing the food database to
obtain the density of the food item based on the type of food item;
and obtaining the weight of the food item from the density of the
food item, and the volume of the food item; compare the image data
with comparative data in a database; determine, based on the
comparative data and the additional information, a type and
quantity of the food item; select, based on the determined type and
quantity, a recipe relating to the food item, the recipe comprising
food preparation information relating to a plurality of food
preparation steps, including configuration information for
operating a kitchen appliance to carry out at least one of the
plurality of food preparation steps; provide the configuration
information to the kitchen appliance; and configure the kitchen
appliance to carry out the at least one food preparation step based
on the configuration information.
3. Apparatus as claimed in claim 2, in which the processor is
configured to provide the recipe to the electronic device.
4. Apparatus as claimed in claim 2, in which the recipe comprises
instructions for programming a kitchen appliance.
5. Apparatus as claimed in claim 2, in which the image data
comprises a bar code providing information about the type and/or
quantity of the food item.
6. Apparatus as claimed in claim 2 in which: the database comprises
pictures and recipes relating to a plurality of food items; and the
processor is configured to: select one or more recipes based on the
type of the food item: and transmit information about the one or
more recommended recipes to the electronic device.
7. Apparatus as claimed in claim 6 in which the image data
comprises one or more pictures and wherein the processor is
configured to match the one or more pictures of the food item with
the pictures of the plurality of food items available in the
database.
8. Apparatus as claimed in claim 2, wherein the processor is
configured to obtain information relating to the weight of the food
item by: calculating the volume occupied by the food item based on
grading marks visible in the one or more pictures of the food item,
wherein the grading marks indicate the size of the food item in
each or any of the three dimensions.
9. Apparatus as claimed in claim 2, wherein the processor is
configured to calculate the volume occupied by the food item by
creating a 3D digital model of the food item based on the one or
more pictures of the food item and then enumerating the number of
voxels in the 3D digital model to determine volume of the food
item.
10. Apparatus as claimed in claim 2, wherein the food database
further includes nutritional information about a plurality of food
items, wherein the nutritional information includes amount of
calories, carbohydrates and protein in each food item in the
plurality of food items.
Description
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
[0001] This application is a continuation of U.S. patent
application Ser. No. 16/715,373 filed Dec. 16, 2019, which is a
continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/826,459 filed
Aug. 14, 2015, which claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent
Application No. 62/037,142 filed Aug. 14, 2014, all of which are
hereby incorporated by reference in their entireties.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Technical Field
[0002] This disclosure relates to food preparation arrangements for
example incorporating electrically powered kitchen appliances.
Specifically, the disclosure relates to a system for identifying or
grading food items and for providing a recipe recommendation to a
user.
Discussion
[0003] Electrically powered kitchen appliances used for food
preparation arrangements include, for example:
1) stand mixers, by which is meant the kind of kitchen appliance in
which a mixing bowl is supported on a pedestal which also supports
an electric motor and a drive system including a drive outlet,
overhead of the bowl, which permits a planetary mixing action to be
imparted to tools suspended into the bowl from the overhead drive
outlet; 2) food processors, by which is meant the kind of kitchen
appliance in which a rotary tool mounted in the base a bowl is
driven from beneath the bowl by means of a suitable drive coupling
from an electric motor; and 3) blenders, which are similar to food
processors, and indeed are often combined therewith, and which
include a tool, mounted in a goblet or similar vessel, driven from
beneath the goblet.
[0004] Such kitchen appliances are well known and established, and
each form has respective capabilities; the more expensive stand
mixers usually being capable of performing a wider range of
functions than the food processors and blenders. Nevertheless, in
respect of all such appliances, there is a continuous drive to
increase their functionality and general usefulness without
substantially increasing their price to the end-user. It is, for
example, generally the case that when any of the foregoing
appliances is used, the users want to know recipes that they may
prepare based on food items available with them. Further, the users
may want to access additional information about the available food
items including nutritional content, freshness, quality and weight
of the food items. The users may want additional information as
they are becoming more interested in eating healthier food due to
increase in obesity and other health problems. However, it is often
difficult for people to follow dietary plans or access recipes that
are recommended by doctors to achieve health goals like losing
weight or to maintain a healthy weight. This is difficult for users
as it is not easy to determine nutritional content of food and
often the dietary plans forces them to reduce intake of well-liked
food and to increase intake of disliked food, which decreases the
user's motivation to strictly follow the dietary plans.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0005] It is an aspect of the disclosure to provide a system, which
is able to quickly and efficiently recommend recipes for the
respective: food items available with users. Further, the system
may provide additional information including nutritional content,
freshness, quality and weight of the food items. The recipes may be
recommended such that they are healthy and liked by the users. More
specifically, the solution to the problems is provided in a way
such that it mitigates the existing problems around the
implementation of such solutions within the home environment for
appliances.
[0006] According to the disclosure, a food-grading device comprises
a container for providing an enclosure for a food item, wherein the
surface of the container includes a plurality of grading marks. The
food-grading device further includes a docking station arranged to
dock an electronic device facing the enclosures. Yet further, the
food-grading device 100 includes a processor configured to take one
or more pictures of the food item 104 using the electronic device
110, transmit the one or more pictures to a cloud 202, receive
recommended recipes for the food item 104 and display the
recommended recipes. Further still, the food-grading device 100
includes a local memory configured to store one or more pictures
and additional information of the food item 104, and recommended
recipes for the food item 104.
[0007] According to another embodiment of the disclosure, the cloud
202 comprising a food database 206 storing pictures and recipes of
a plurality of food items and a food-grading service unit 204. The
food-grading service unit 204 is configured to receive one or more
pictures of the food item 104 from the food-grading device 100,
process the one or more pictures of the food item 104 to determine
the type and quantity of the food item 104, select one or more
recipes based on the type food item 104 and transmit information
about the one or more recommended recipes.
[0008] Technical advantages of particular embodiments include the
automatic detection of food items and their quantity based on
pictures of the food items. Further, recommending recipes for
detected food items and sending instructions to one or more kitchen
appliances for the recommended recipes. Accordingly, the
functionality of the kitchen appliances may be increased.
[0009] Other technical advantages will be readily apparent to one
skilled in the art from the following figures, descriptions and
claims. Moreover, while specific advantages have been enumerated
above, various embodiments may include all, some or none of the
enumerated advantages.
[0010] In order that the disclosure may be clearly understood and
readily carried into effect, certain embodiments thereof will now
be described, by way of example only, with reference to the
accompanying drawings. The invention extends to any novel aspects
or features described and/or illustrated herein.
[0011] The invention extends to methods and/or apparatus
substantially as herein described and/or as illustrated with
reference to the accompanying drawings.
[0012] The invention also provides a computer program and a
computer program product for carrying out any of the methods
described herein and/or for embodying any of the apparatus features
described herein, and a computer readable medium having stored
thereon a program for carrying out any of the methods described
herein and/or for embodying any of the apparatus features described
herein.
[0013] Any apparatus feature as described herein may also be
provided as a method feature, and vice versa. As used herein, means
plus function features may be expressed alternatively in terms of
their corresponding structure, such as a suitably programmed
processor and associated memory.
[0014] Any feature in one aspect of the invention may be applied to
other aspects of the invention, in any appropriate combination. In
particular, method aspects may be applied to apparatus aspects, and
vice versa. Furthermore, any, some and/or all features in one
aspect can be applied to any, some and/or all features in any other
aspect, in any appropriate combination.
[0015] It should also be appreciated that particular combinations
of the various features described and defined in any aspects of the
invention can be implemented and/or supplied and/or used
independently.
[0016] In this specification the word `or` can be interpreted in
the exclusive or inclusive sense unless stated otherwise.
[0017] Furthermore, features implemented in hardware may generally
be implemented in software, and vice versa. Any reference to
software and hardware features herein should be construed
accordingly.
[0018] The invention extends to a container, image processing,
apparatus or method as described herein and/or substantially as
illustrated with reference to the accompanying drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0019] The present invention is now described, purely by way of
example, with reference to the accompanying diagrammatic drawings,
in which:
[0020] FIG. 1A and FIG. 1B show, in perspective view, one example
of a food-grading device according to the present disclosure;
[0021] FIG. 1C shows a side view of the food-grading device and
FIG. 1D shows a top view of the food-grading device according to
the present disclosure;
[0022] FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a food-grading system according
to the present disclosure;
[0023] FIG. 3 is a flowchart of a method for grading food and
recommending recipes according to the present disclosure; and
[0024] FIG. 4 illustrates a user interface of a mobile phone
application that receives and displays recipes according to the
present disclosure.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
[0025] Referring now to FIGS. 1A and 1B, in which corresponding
features carry the same reference numbers, a food-grading device
100 comprises a container 102 which acts as an enclosure for a food
item 104; for example an apple. The container 102 may include one
or more grading marks 106 on the surface of the container 102. Each
mark in the grading marks 106 may be an etch, a depression, a
raised portion, a print, or any other structure that is clearly
observable from inside and outside of the container 102. The
grading marks 106 indicate a unit of measurement, such as
centimeters or inches.
[0026] The container 102 is cube shaped. However, the container 102
may be of any other suitable shape such as spherical, cuboid or
conical. The container 102 may have one or more openings that allow
a user to place the food item 104 inside the container 102. For
example, the one or more side faces of the container 102 may open
as a gate or the top face of the container 102 may be a lid that
can be lifted of the container 102 to allow the user to place the
food item 104 in the container 102. Further, the container 102 may
be transparent such that the food item 104 is visible to the user
at all times. Yet further, the container 102 is may be hermitically
sealable which ensures that no extraneous elements enter the
container 102 when the food item 104 is placed in the container
102. The container 102 may further be dishwasher-safe which makes
it easy for the user to clean the food-grading device 100. The
food-grading device 100 may also include a weighing scale to
determine weight of the food item 104. Further, the food-grading
device 100 may include one or more sensors to perform chemical
analysis of the food item 104. For example, the food-grading device
100 may include an odor sensor that is used to capture the odor
given out by the food item 104 and detect chemical nature of odor
molecules. The food-grading device 100 may also be connected to a
network that includes, but is not limited to, the Internet, LAN,
MAN, WAN, or the like.
[0027] Further, the food-grading device 100 may include a docking
station 108, which is used to dock an electronic device 110
including a smart phone, a tablet, a camera, a 3D scanner and a
barcode scanner. In the example shown in FIG. 1B, a smartphone is
docked on the docking station 108. The docking station 108 may
electronically connect the food-grading device 100 and the
electronic device 110 using one or more ports available on the
docking station 108. When activated, the electronic device 110 is
configured to take pictures of the food item 104. For example, the
user may use controls (not shown) available on the outer surface of
the food-grading device 100 to instruct the food-grading device 100
to initiate taking pictures using the electronic device 110.
Alternatively, the user may directly activate the electronic device
110 to take pictures.
[0028] Further, the container 102 may have a turntable installed on
the bottom face of the food-grading device 100. The turntable
rotates the food item 104 at a predefined rate, which allows the
electronic device 110 to take multiple pictures of the food item
104 from various angles. This helps in grading the food item 104
more accurately. Further, a 3D digital model of the food item 104
may be created using the multiple pictures of the food item 104
taken from various angles. FIG. 1C shows a front view of the
food-grading device 100 and FIG. 1D shows a top view of the
food-grading device 100.
[0029] FIG. 2 shows a block diagram of a food-grading system 200
according to the present disclosure. The food-grading system 200
includes the food-grading device 100 connected to a cloud 202.
Examples of clouds are Windows Azure.TM., Amazon EC2.TM., Bungee
Connect.TM., Google App Engine.TM., and others. The cloud 202
includes a food database 206 includes details of a plurality of
food items including names, pictures and contents of the food
items.
[0030] Further, the cloud 202 includes a food-grading service unit
204, which receives one or more pictures for the food item 104 from
the food-grading device 100. Further, the food-grading service unit
204 may also receive additional information including weight and
chemical analysis report of the food item 104. Thereafter, the
food-grading service unit 204 performs image processing on the one
or more pictures obtained to determine the type and quantity of the
food item 104. Image processing may include matching the one or
more pictures of the food item 104 with the pictures available in
the food database 206. For example, the food-grading service unit
204 may determine that the food item 104 is an apple based on image
processing. Then, the food-grading service unit 204 may determine
weight of the food item 104. Accordingly, the food-grading service
unit 204 first calculates the volume occupied by the food item 104.
To accomplish this, the food-grading service unit 204 obtains the
position of the grading marks 106 with respect to the food item 104
from image processing. The grading marks 106 in the one or more
pictures help the estimation of the site of the food item 104 in
each of the three dimensions, which is used to estimate the volume
of the food item 104. Alternatively, a 3D digital model of the food
item 104 may be created using the one or more pictures of the food
item 104; thereafter, voxels (volume pixel) may be used to
determine the volume of the food item 104. Once volume is known,
the food-grading service unit 204 may access the food database 206
to obtain density of the food item 104 based on the type of the
food item 104 detected. Thereafter, equation (1) below may be used
to determine weight of the food item 104.
Weight = Density .times. .times. of .times. .times. the .times.
.times. food .times. .times. item .times. Volume .times. .times. of
.times. .times. the .times. .times. food .times. .times. item
.times. Acceleration .times. .times. due .times. .times. to .times.
.times. gravity ( 1 ) ##EQU00001##
Alternatively, the food-grading device 100 includes a weighing
scale and sends the weight information to the food-grading service
unit 204.
[0031] Moreover, the food database 206 may include nutritional
information about each food item in the food database 206. For
example, the nutritional information and other information
including pictures in the food database 206 may advantageously be
obtained on an ad-hoc basis depending on requirements of the
food-grading service unit 204 from databases such as the U.S.
Department of Agriculture (USDA) nutrient database. The nutritional
information may indicate the amount of calories, carbohydrates,
protein, etc. of various food items. Yet further, the food database
206 includes recipes for various food items. Therefore, the
food-grading service unit 204 may provide the nutritional
information about the detected food item 104 to the user and
recommend recipes for the detected food item 104. This information
may be sent to one or more of the electronic device 110 and a
kitchen appliance 208 such that user may use these devices to
access the information. This is explained in further detail in
conjunction with FIG. 4 below. For example, the user may use a
touch display 210 on the kitchen appliance 208 (the food processor
208) to access the information. The user may optionally use the
touch display 210 to provide feedback to the food-grading service
unit 204. Further, the food-grading service unit 204 may send
instructions to be followed by the kitchen appliance 208 for
various recipes. Yet further, the user may have a user account with
the food-grading service unit 204. Accordingly, the food-grading
service unit 204 may recommend recipes to balance meals of the user
and to help the user achieve predetermined health goals, or on
feedback received from the user or from other users. The
food-grading service unit 204 may also determine quality of the
food item 104 and share this information with the user.
[0032] In another embodiment, image processing may detect a
barcode, which may directly provide information about type and
quantity of the food item 104.
[0033] The food-grading service unit 204 also comprises a
processor, coupled to the food database 206 for generating the
recipe recommendations based on the detected food item 104.
[0034] In an exemplary embodiment, a user may place a cucumber in
the food-grading device 100. When the cloud 202 detects the food
item as cucumber, it recommends multiple recipes to the user. The
recommended recipes may be displayed on the touch display 210 of
the food processor 208. The user may select a recipe titled "Cold
Cucumber Soup Recipe" from the recommended recipes. Thereafter, the
touch display 210 displays full details (shown below) of the
selected recipe including name of the recipe, number of serves,
preparation time, electronic appliances required, ingredients
required and the method steps.
Recipe: "Cold Cucumber Soup Recipe"
Serves: 4-6
[0035] Preparation time: 10 minutes Can be made with these
appliances: Food processor
Ingredients:
[0036] 1. Cucumbers 2 (about 750 g)
2. Salt 01 tsp
[0037] 3. Fresh garlic 01 to 1 clove 4. Spring onions, white 6
5. Yoghurt 115 g
[0038] 6. Dill 1 tbsp 7. Buttermilk or cream 200 g
Method:
[0039] 1. Peel and cut the cucumber length ways then scoop out the
seeds. 2. Attach the knife blade to the food processor, 3. Place
the cucumber, salt, garlic, spring onion, yoghurt and dill into the
food processor bowl. 4. Process to a smooth puree on high speed. 5.
To finish the soup attach the whisk. 6. Switch the machine to low
speed and whisk in the buttermilk. 7. Traditionally we serve such
soup in a bowl set over a bowl of ice. To finish the soup top with
some chopped dill and garlic croutons,
[0040] Further, the cloud 202 may send instructions to the food
processor 208 to program the food processor 208 based on the method
steps. For example, the food processor 208 is programmed to process
at high speed at fourth method step and then switch to low speed at
sixth method step.
[0041] As the user performs the tasks corresponding to each method
step, the user may select the corresponding method steps one-by-one
on the touch display 210. Therefore, when user selects the method
step four on the touch display 210, the food processor 208
automatically processes the food at high speed. Similarly, when the
user selects the method step six on the touch display 210, the food
processor 208 automatically processes the food at low speed.
[0042] It will be appreciated that, in such circumstances, the
cloud 202 may send instructions to two or more kitchen appliances
including food processors, blenders mixers, fryers and ovens, to
program each appliance based on the method steps of a selected
recipe.
[0043] In another embodiment, the touch display 210 also allows
user to order one or more ingredients for a selected recipe from an
online store.
[0044] Referring now to FIG. 3, is a flowchart 300 illustrating
method for grading food and recommending recipes according to the
present disclosure. At step 302, a user places the food item 104 in
the container 102. Then at step 304, the food-grading device 100
takes pictures of the food item 104 using the electronic device
110. The user may instruct the electronic device 110 to initiate
taking pictures if the food item 104. Alternatively, the user may
use controls (not shown) available on the food-grading device 100
to instruct the food-grading device 100 to initiate taking pictures
using the electronic device 110. Further, the food-grading device
100 may determine weight using weighing scale available in the
food-grading device 100. Yet further, the food-grading device 100
may perform chemical analysis of the food item 104 using available
sensors that employ food-safe chemical analysis techniques.
[0045] Next at step 306, the food-grading device 100 transmits the
one or more pictures and optionally the additional information
obtained to the cloud 202. The additional information includes
weight and chemical analysis report of the food item 104. The
food-grading device 100 may directly transmit the one or more
pictures and additional information to the cloud 202 through a
connection to a computer network such as the Internet.
Alternatively, the food-grading device 100 may instruct the
electronic device 110 to transmit the one or more pictures and
additional information to the cloud 202.
[0046] Optionally, to avoid unnecessary processing, the
food-grading device 100 may consult a local memory (not shown) of
the food grading device 100 before transmitting (or instructing the
electronic device 110 to transmit) the one or more pictures or the
additional information to the cloud 202. If the one or more
pictures or the additional information corresponds to data already
stored in the local memory of the grading device 100, the
food-grading device will not transmit it to the cloud 202, but
instead display nutritional information of the food item 104 and
one or more stored recipes stored on the local memory of the
grading device 100. Alternatively, instead of displaying the
information, the food-grading device 100 could send the information
to one or both of the electronic device 110 and the kitchen
appliance 208. The data stored on the local memory of the grading
device 100 could be previously sent to or received from the cloud
202 in a previous query and stored by the local memory of the
grading device 100, or it could be preloaded data for common
foodstuffs.
[0047] Once the cloud 202 receives the one or more pictures and
additional information sent by the food-grading device 100, the
food-grading service unit 204 available on the cloud 202 processes
the one or more pictures and additional information at step 308.
This includes performing image processing to determine the type and
quantity of the food item 104. Further, the food-grading service
unit 204 may use the food database 206 available with the cloud 202
to obtain nutritional information of the food item 104 and one or
more recipes to recommend to the user. Further, the user may have
an account with the food-grading service unit 204. Therefore, the
food-grading service unit 204 may select recipes based on user
preferences, health goals, availability of ingredients etc.
Thereafter, the food-grading service unit 204 sends the information
to one or more of the food-grading device 100, the electronic
device 110 and the kitchen appliance 208. Finally, at step 310, the
information is received at the user's end. The information may also
include instructions to program the kitchen appliance 208 for
various recipes.
[0048] Referring now to FIG. 4, is a user interface 400 of a mobile
phone application installed on the electronic device 110 according
to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The mobile phone
application receives and displays recipes recommended by the
food-grading service unit 204. In an example embodiment, the mobile
phone application displays a recipe 402 for "chocolate steamed
pudding", The recipe 402 includes a picture 404 of the final dish.
Further, the recipe 402 includes information and instructions 406
for preparing the recipe. The user may view further details using
an "Ingredients" tab 408 and a "Method" tab 410. The mobile phone
application may also allow the user to send the instructions 406 to
one or more kitchen appliances to program the kitchen appliances
for the selected recipe. The instructions 606 from the electronic
device 110 may be sent to the one or more kitchen appliances via
the cloud 202 or directly using a short-range wireless
communication protocol such as Bluetooth, Zigbee, Infrared, Wi-Fi
etc. The user interface 400 may optionally allow the user to send
feedback to the food-grading service unit 204.
[0049] It will be understood that the present invention has been
described above purely by way of example, and modifications of
detail can be made within the scope of the invention.
[0050] Each feature disclosed in the description, and (where
appropriate) the claims and drawings may be provided independently
or in any appropriate combination.
[0051] Reference numerals appearing in the claims are by way of
illustration only and shall have no limiting effect on the scope of
the claims.
* * * * *