I've seen my fair share of smart ovens powered by AI, complete with all their wacky cooking functions, probes, recipe suggestions and other largely unnecessary bells and whistles.
CES always features several smart ovens, and I've become increasingly unimpressed. However, a small and simple oven with some intriguing features caught my attention on the showroom floor this year.
Apecoo's version of the smart oven, called AISO, is not ready for prime time but has some compelling qualities. It's smaller than most smart ovens and doesn't claim to "do it all." But an internal camera and weight sensors help it better understand the food that you've put inside and how best to cook it.
AISO uses images and sensors to identify the 'geometry' of food
Using sensors and a built-in camera, the AISO oven identifies the geometry of food and deploys an ideal cooking time and temperature. David Watsky/CNET
The AISO identifies food placed inside using images captured by a camera, along with weight sensors. Those sensors help determine details like the thickness of a piece of steak or the volume of a handful of broccoli -- something a camera alone can't do. It then uses its algorithm to identify and deploy a "perfect cooking program," relying on those metrics -- rather than an annoying probe -- to determine the optimal cooking time.
The reps put a packaged granola bar inside to show how the oven would know when something was "not cookable." David Watsky/CNET
In the words of a rep I spoke with on the showroom floor, the AISO identifies the "geometry and adjusts heat distribution in real-time. Simply place your food inside. AI identifies the ingredients and executes the perfect cooking cycle without you having to press a button."
A smart oven that doesn't outsmart itself
The AISO is a simpler sort of smart oven. David Watsky/CNET
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