If there’s one equipment class within the kitchen that’s stayed caught in time, it’s the fridge. Positive, cool new options like see-through doorways and touchscreens have been added to some fashions, however in actuality, the fridge has largely remained the identical for many of the previous century: an enormous, chilly field the place we put meals inside and hope we keep in mind to eat it.
A brand new Seattle-based startup known as Tomorrow hopes to alter that with their eponymous new fridge, the Tomorrow Fridge.
So how is the Tomorrow Fridge completely different? The corporate is maintaining most particulars underneath wraps for now, however in accordance with CEO Andrew Kinzer, the primary distinction is in how the Tomorrow Fridge treats contemporary produce. Kinzer says the standard trendy fridge is constructed to increase the lifetime of produce via dehumidification, or the drying out of air to gradual spoilage.
“What most individuals don’t know is that that stuff’s really alive,” Kinzer advised The Spoon. “It’s obtained metabolism, it’s respiration, it’s producing warmth and carbon dioxide.”
The truth is, just about all trendy fridges perform like dehumidifiers, drying out vegatables and fruits. Whereas this helps eradicate mould, it additionally results in extra speedy spoilage.
“Anytime you see carrots that get actually flexible, broccoli that will get form of floppy, or lettuce that appears unhappy, that’s water loss,” Kinzer defined.
Kinzer says the Tomorrow Fridge will have the ability to modify the setting in several storage areas throughout the fridge to raised protect contemporary produce.
Whereas Kinzer and Tomorrow aren’t sharing particular particulars about their cooling system, he did reveal that they’ve filed for a patent and plan to launch extra data as they method the fridge’s 2025 supply date.
One other massive characteristic of the Tomorrow Fridge is its means to trace what’s inside. Kinzer says the fridge may have overhead cameras to observe stock and assist households plan meals. By leveraging AI-based massive language fashions, the fridge can recommend recipes or notify customers of what’s working low. This characteristic might be accessible via the Tomorrow Fridge app.
Sadly, we don’t but have a transparent image of what the fridge will seem like, characteristic specifics (equivalent to whether or not it would embrace a freezer), or pricing. The corporate is maintaining most particulars secret for now. One characteristic it gained’t embrace, in accordance with Kinzer, is gas-detecting sensors like these hinted at in Amazon’s patent or present in merchandise like BlakBear meals storage containers.
It doesn’t matter what options the Tomorrow Fridge in the end provides, we’ll be maintaining an eye fixed out. Readers of The Spoon know I’ve typically bemoaned the shortage of innovation in fridges. Positive, there are occasional new takes, like Samsung’s Household Hub or futuristic patents, however for essentially the most half, fridges stay massive, chilly, air-drying packing containers the place a big share of our meals goes dangerous.
Let’s hope the Tomorrow Fridge delivers on lastly bringing some contemporary concepts to the fridge.
