Team:
Jenny Chu, Shysta Pandey, Juan Carlos Santos Andrade
Duration:
5 days
Project Aspects:
Research, Prototype, Design
It all started at the beginning of the MHCI+D program at University of Washington, we were given only 5 days to complete this project. It was definitely challenging due to the time constraint, yet fun in some ways to get to know your new classmates and get a feel of what we will be doing for the whole year.
Team Challenge
Teams were asked to explore ways of using technology to think about harmonious cohabitation between human and non-human agents. Our team decided to tackle the excessive production of food packaging related waste within the local communities and the side effect it has on the local ecosystem as a whole.
Formative Research Methods
Secondary Research
For secondary research, we focused on scientific papers and articles from large and credible organizations such as the Food and Agriculture Organization, National Geographic, and Recycle Track System. We wanted to learn more about the causes of food waste, and how plastic pollution is affecting our environment.
Insights
- Food waste is mismanaged.
- Micro plastic and related food waste disrupt the ecosystem.
- Current technology is not very effective at cleaning up waste on a large scale.
- Food expiration dates may mislead consumers.
- Buying too much food without thinking about not being able to finish it is a common cause of food waste.
- Targeting consumer behavior can be the most effective way to reduce waste.
After gathering these insights, we were able to have a better understanding of our problem space, which is
“How might we utilize technology to reduce food-packaging related waste and pollution in local ecosystems?”
Ideation
In response to our How Might We statement, our group started to come up with solutions that will best address our problem. We started with a team sketching exercise where the three of us set a timer of 2 minutes to sketch up each design concept. The goal was to flesh out ideas quickly and efficiently without being stuck on one idea for a long time. In total, our team generated 30 design concepts to move forward with.
In the next step, we narrowed down these 30 design concepts by using a stick-note selection system where we categorized each idea into “yes”: Yes we want this idea, “no”: No, this isn’t feasible, we don’t want it or “collab”: This idea can collaborate with another idea. To go into details, we also color coded the “collab” sticky notes, so that we know that the same ideas go with the same color.
After revising our design concepts, our team came down with four design concepts to expand on.
After a few rounds of critique from our peers, we decided to go with the Smart Kitchen System. The idea of utilizing RFID tags along with the smart fridge excites our peers the most, since the most common problem for them is forgetting about what food they own in their own fridge and whenever they realize the food is still there, it’s already too late. So they think the RFID tag can definitely help them keep track of the food they consume, track the food freshness and the food wastage. The RFID tags will be especially helpful when interconnected with the smart fridge, which will also send them an alert through the phone app to warn users about food going bad.
Prototype/Storyboard
For the prototype section, we decided to use role prototypes to present our overall functionalities in general and how each smart object works together as a whole. Also, due to time constraints, the futuristic nature of our design concept and the fact that our team is collaborating remotely, our team decided to prototype our smart kitchen system through a quick demonstration video. During the process, we observe how our participants would respond to this prototype.
After receiving feedback from our participants, we made our final decisions on how our final smart kitchen system is going to be and put together a step by step process of how our smart kitchen system worked.
Final Product
Our smart kitchen is an interconnected system that tracks food consumption and wastage. This is George, he just went grocery shopping and now is putting his groceries in the fridge.
While putting a box of strawberries he bought into the fridge, the fridge’s Radio Frequency Identification reader sends out radio waves to activate the RFID tag on the box of strawberries. The tag sends back information about the strawberries to the fridge reader.
The fridge’s shelves have built in pressure and weight sensors that calculate the amount of food George consumes.
The display screen on the fridge shows George information about the strawberries. The fridge stores information about all the products in it, including the origins of the food, weight, freshness and other relevant factors.
Four days later, the fridge alerts George about the strawberries’ expiry date. George takes notice of the alert and eats his strawberries as a snack that day.
While looking through the fridge, George notices his guac has spoiled. He throws it into the trash. The trash can also has a pressure sensor. When George throws away food, the system shows him the amount of food he has wasted, and the impact it has on local ecosystems.
Final Thoughts
After presenting the smart home kitchen system to our peers and instructors, we got some key takeaways to think about and next steps we hope to move forward to.
Key takeaways:
People feel like alerts for food spoilage should be customizable
Some people are comfortable with letting their food expire and consuming them a few days or weeks past the expiration date.
Concerns about losing RFID tag
There were also concerns about losing the RFID if they consume or cut parts of food with the RFID tag.
Next steps:
Develop features to track individuals in a household instead of just one person
At the moment the system works on a per household basis, and one thing we would like to do is to eventually find a way to key in on individuals in a household to more efficiently curb food wastage.
How to make the RFID technology biodegradable and cheap.
We would also like to think about how to make the technology utilized be more eco friendly as well so that the kitchen doesn’t actually make more waste itself.
