By Scott Koehler
Over the past few decades appliances have been upgraded incrementally but we’re now seeing some of the biggest innovations ever. The explosive growth in appliance technology can be traced back to Apple introducing Siri, the virtual voice assistant 10 years ago. What started out as a way to use voice commands for computing has evolved into much more sophisticated use cases like controlling appliances with one’s voice. Voice Recognition is enabling game changing innovations with the ability to learn each person’s preferences and cooking habits and then replicate the repetitive ones to perform a series of tasks.
I contacted four home appliance industry experts recently to talk with them about their latest innovations and it’s obvious that there’s a tremendous amount of innovation going on. There are game-changing new features that improve performance, deliver automation, provide all new features and capabilities, enable cooperation between machines, and perform multiple functions with one command. Kitchens are the new hub for home automation and appliances are front and center.
The brand experts who shared some of their companies’ latest product designs were Brandt Varner, Vice President of Product Management, Home Appliances and LG Electronics. Michael Earls, Senior Merchandising Specialist for GE Appliances Smart Home Solutions, Zach Elkin, President of Beko Home Appliances USA and Matt Van Horn, President of June Ovens. What follows is just a sampling of the latest inventions and innovations from the experts.
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One of the most significant innovations to date is GE’s first “over the air” upgrade. According to Earls the appliance maker remotely added a new function via WiFi to more than 200,000 connected ovens that were already installed in consumers homes. The new feature is called No-Preheat Air Fry Technology. Improving appliance capabilities wirelessly without new hardware or a technician is a breakthrough.
We can expect more features to be added wirelessly to appliances in the future. According to Earls, GE is also the first major appliance company to live stream via app whatever is cooking in your oven. It’s called In-Oven Cook Cam. Last but not least, GE has launched an oven with no door handle. Earls explained that the oven door can be opened by voice and by knocking on the door.
Food preservation is a big focus for Beko. The latest innovation from this global appliance maker is the capability of keeping vegetables fresh for 30 days according to Elkin. Looking to nature for inspiration, researchers at Beko are working to perfect two key elements in food preservation; humidity and light. Their Crisper Drawer uses a proprietary new technology made from breathable smart materials to maximize humidity while at the same time minimizing moisture loss, thus prolonging the life of fresh fruits and vegetables according. Beko refrigerators pair the Crisper Drawer technology with their Active Fresh Blue Light tech which re-creates photosynthesis to preserve vitamin C and fruit and vegetable taste. This combination of new technology in the food preservation category is an industry first.
June Oven President, Van Horn believes that one of the biggest reasons Americans don’t do more cooking is because of time. The June Oven pairs the oven with a smart phone app so you can step away from the kitchen, watch your food being cooked and receive push notifications. June claims that this takes the stress out of cooking and makes it easier for anyone to prepare a great meal. Another innovative concept that June is working on requires the software and hardware to work together to create a rotisserie effect. Six independent heating elements are programmed to rotate on and off in a rotisserie fashion for evenly roasted proteins. Rotating the heat instead of the protein exemplifies creative design thinking from this 8 year old company which was recently purchased by BDT Capital Partners, the parent company of Weber Grill. June is an example of a technology company making an appliance. This company is clearly a high tech company focused on software first. Based in San Francisco, June takes advantage of all of the expertise, knowledge and innovation coming out of Silicon Valley. When June first launched their countertop oven they used online connections to learn from all of the users and rapidly innovate new cooking techniques based on the experiences of a large number of users. They used sensors and cameras to take advantage of computer vision technology to analyze cooking processes. Watch for new innovations coming from the combined capabilities of Weber and June.
LG is working on innovation in 3 categories. The first is conveniences the second is automation, and the third is proactive customer care. Convenience includes being able to remotely control devices whether from your home or from the grocery store. Brandt Varner explains that convenience features might help us but they are not a true reason to buy and connect an appliance online. Going beyond convenience into automation includes the ability of machines being able to talk to one another without any human involvement. This is known as the Internet of things (IoT). Automations also include partnerships with companies like Amazon for services like Smart Re-order, for example machines can now talk back-and-forth providing a seamless experience of restocking detergent, filters and pretty much anything according to Varner. The third category is proactive customer care, the ability to make sure the machine is working at its best all the time. For example, the day a machine is installed the online connection automatically produces an installation report and reports if the appliance was installed correctly or not. Next it runs a usage report which helps with maintenance for the machine. This is a big used case because being able to diagnose problems before they occur means more uptime and less pain for the user. Another appliance innovation is actually a whole appliance and it’s called Styler by LG. It’s actually a steam closet and it has a number of unique uses, like refreshing clothes, sanitizing clothes, pillows, bed clothing and more. It can also remove wrinkles in clothing without washing or ironing.
I asked each expert to predict possible game changing innovations we might see within the next five years. Van Horn believes that steam and air fry cooking will be even bigger because of our growing awareness about health. He also sees multi cookers as a big trend. Earls predicts that hyper personalization and leveraging AI are the keys to innovation in the next five years. Beko is studying user behavior patterns related to energy consumption. Elkin points to Beko’s 1000+ member research team working on ML for refrigerators, washers, and dryers as a sign of things to come. According to Elkin, Americans genuinely want to be part of a larger green story that embraces health and wellness. Varner mentions multistage cooking as an innovation that we’re going to see more of in the next five years. Ready or not a whole lot of exciting innovations for the kitchen are on the way.
Posted with permission of Retail Observer. To view the full January issue, click here.
