I'm generally very open to new technologies. I blog. I Twitter. While I don't have an iPhone (yet), I am perfectly sympathetic to people who feel the need to read CNN.com headlines during movie previews.

This, however, has me scratching me head: A "Pizza Cam" from Santa Clara, California-based Party Pizza pizzeria. You order your pizza, then log in to the "Dough Cam," "Kitchen Cam" and "Oven Cam" to watch your pizza in various stages of gestation. You can even get a Pizza Cam app for your iPhone.

I like the idea of knowing where my food comes from, but that doesn't generally get as specific as knowing what it looks like while the mozzarella melts. The phrase "like watching grass grow" springs to mind.

With a recession in the US looming, restaurants are likely going to see some drop-off in their business, since people will be less inclined to treat themselves to lunches and dinners out. Still, that doesn't seem to stop restaurants from investing in new technology.

The new technology, which is being tested inin Europe, the United States, and Japan, allows customers to order their food directly from a screen at their table rather than a real, live waiter. Sounds like it would be expensive for these restaurants to install, but apparently, the technology is improving restaurant business by appealing to younger markets and cutting the cost of human resources. Later this Spring, Microsoft will roll out a technology that will transform an entire table so that diners can not only order their food, but play music and video games as well. At the table?

Gee, and here I thought we were making progress in The Delicious family by turning the TV off during dinner.

It may not be available just yet, but you can put our names on the list for the ROLLERtoaster when it hits the market. It is definitely the toaster of the future. Sleek and compact, the toaster was designed by Jaren Goh of Singapore and won a 2006 Red Dot Design Award for innovation. Goh was inspired by the change of televisions from large and bulky boxes to streamlined flat-panels which retained all the functionality of the larger unit in a much more compact product. He applied that to a common appliance,the toaster, and the ROLLERtoaster was born. Slices of bread are "fed" into one side of the machine and are rolled through, fully toasted, to the other side where your plate awaits. The only potential problem is that it doesn't look like it will be able to handle bagels easily. Then again, neither do a lot of other toasters, so perhaps it's not as big a problem as one might think.

Looking for new ways to get some perspective on how our bodies process food, some UK scientists have built an artificial stomach that simulates digestion. The machine is made from plastics and metals, all strong enough to withstand the acids that are part of digestion, and is controlled by computers, able to mimic all the physical and chemical reactions associated with eating. It is even capable of vomiting.

The designer, Dr Martin Wickham, is hopeful that "his model will help scientists understand more about how food gets processed in the gut, and which nutrients get absorbed." This knowledge could lead to new definitions of superfoods, which are supposedly the healthiest of foods, determining which nutrients are absorbed the fastest and how to get the most from what we eat. There are commercial applications, as well, and companies have already shown an interest in borrowing the machine to test out some of their new food products (health-type products) release a specified nutrient to the stomach that the company claims it does.

Kitchen trends come and go, but there are certain aspects of both design and technology that seem like they're here to stay. One trend is for professional-quality appliances, particularly stoves and ovens, as many home cooks want to be able to prepare four star cuisine in their own kitchens, not just approximations of it. In a similar vein, kitchen islands are still popular, as they create a useful workspace for more complex cooking. In other words, we're seeing a preference to technique over technology.

But technology is really growing quickly and for those who prefer streamlined stovetops to gas or electric pro stoves with huge flames, induction heating is supposed to be making a splash in the market. At Yanko Design, designer Terence Woon conceived this wall unit as a way to further streamline the kitchen, incorporating a variety of appliances into one small space. His vision includes (from left to right) a juicer, blender, toaster, multimedia interface, scale and water dispenser. Personally, I think I might still prefer individual appliances, but we can't say with certainty what we'll end up with.

What would you like to see in the kitchens of the (near or distant) future?

We've mentioned the new Netscape here on Slashfood before. In case you haven't heard, what used to be an alternative web browser to Internet Explorer, netscape.com, got an extreme makeover in mid-June and has become a social bookmarking site, similar to del.icio.us, digg (technology) or flickr (photos), but for news. In case you're not familiar with social bookmarking, it is the concept of users collecting bookmarks of their favorite websites, and sharing them with the community. Users can collect, categorize, and "tag" bookmarks, which makes it easier for other users to find similar bookmarks. On sites like digg and newsvine, users can "vote" on each others' stories.

Over on Netscape, it's mostly about news, but users can also submit stories in a number of "channels," or categories - from Art & Design to Careers & Jobs to Health & Fitness to Popular Videos. It goes without saying that Slashfood's favorite channel is Food & Travel, but we'll get into more detail about that shortly.

According to Chuck McMinn of Vineyard 29, his winery in Napa Valley, high tech wine is better.

Chuck is one of many "Silicon Valley refugees," who, after success in technology, leave Silicon Valley and pursue a second career in making wine. However, rather than technology behind, this new breed of winemakers is taking the technology right along with them. They use all kinds of high-tech gadgetry in the wine-making process - everything from moisture probes monitoring water use to weather stations to sap-flow sensors to Tanknet, a system that manages software at 80 vineyards. Tanknet links thermostats on the tanks to Web-based software to regulate fermentation and aging.

The question is, how does this high-tech wine match up against, say, French wines, which have been made for hundreds of years without so much as irrigation? Some experts believe that high tech is the future of wine, but you be the judge. Here are three they recommend you try: Clos De La Tech (www.closdelatech.com), Clos LaChance (www.closlachance.com), and the aforementioned Vineyard 29 (www.vineyard29.com).

I am still getting used to my cell phone. In fact, I don't think I quite know how to view picture messages, though I'm sure that I do have a picture and video phone.

So all this new cell phone technology is pretty crazy to me, and it seems like much of it has to do with watching what you eat. Sprint has MyFoodPhone, a service that allows dieters to use their cameraphones to photograph meals and snacks before they eat, then instantly upload the pictures to an online account. Every two weeks a "nutritional advisor" checks the account and delivers feedback via the Web about portion sizes, nutritional content and general eating habits in the form of a video clip or notes.

It's kind of like your nagging significant other calling you to check where you are and what you're eating. "You're at Fatburger eating a Double Kingburger with fries?!?! Get home this instant and eat a salad!!" Something like that.

It looks like a tongue depressor and when it is stirred into a cup of regular coffee, will remove up to 70% of the caffeine in it. It could potentially revolutionize the coffee industry. The DeCaf Co., a startup based in San Francisco, has been able to apply molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) onto the sticks. As the stick is swirled in the cup, it "grabs" the caffeine molecules and when the stick is removed, so too is the caffeine - all with no change in the aroma or flavor of the coffee.

The company hopes to make the sticks available to restaurants and cafes, which would be able to dispense them with drinks or put them out with the other condiments. They also hope to be able to sell them in-stores, so consumers will always have a decaf option wherever they go.

The sticks will aIso work with other caffeinated drinks, such as teas and sodas. If paired with the caffeine litmus strips that we have seen before, those with sensitivities to caffeine wouldn't have to worry about finding caffeine in an unexpected place, since they could simply stir it out of the drink.

Talk about luxurious and slightly...unnecessary?

Personally, I find that a television set should not be anywhere NEAR the kitchen, at least within view of the dining area. It completely takes away from the experience of sharing a meal with other people (unless of course, you live alone and eat by yourself most of the time). I am also not sure why you would need a television set in the kitchen in your range hood to watch while you're cooking. When I cook, I like to have music in the background, but I usually don't like the distraction of television.

Nonetheless, if you feel the need to drop $2,500 on the Siemens LC8M950 range hood model with the built-in 17" screen tv, well, I'm sure it would be nice to watch FoodNetwork while you're cooking.

Faced with the prospect of revolutionary solar-powered thin-film technology, we can think of only one thing: beer. The folks at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have developed micrometer-thin solar cells and heating/cooling devices that could be attached to all kinds of surfaces, including walls, cars or bottles. These would be way less cumbersome than the self-cooling beer cans I posted about a few months back. The solar powered thin films would also require no moving parts. In their press releases, the Rensselaer researchers mention self cooling soda bottles, but we know what they're thinking...

[Via SCI FI Tech and vnunet]

Some schools are offering parents a new way to watch what their kids eat. Instead of simply offering healthier choices in the school cafeteria, students will have to use a fingerprint scanner to "pay" for their foods. The scanner debits an account that the parents maintain and it will have built in spending limits, so parents can set aside $5, or whatever the cost of the school lunch is. The main benefit of the scanner is not to provide an easier way to pay for lunch, but to prevent kids from buying unhealthy junk foods when they're off campus. If they don't have any cash, they will be forced to "buy" their food as school, rather than skipping lunch and eating a king sized Kit Kat and a Slurpee after school.

There are other applications to the fingerprint scanners that might make them a more useful choice for schools, as well. For example, they could replace the regular "roll call" and students could sign in by scanning their finger when walking in to class.

AZCentral.com recently featured a story by southern food writer John T. Edge about the modernization of American barbecue. Edge profiles some strictly traditional 'cue joints and then goes on to explore some more modern variations. One of Edge's most extreme examples is McCrady's in Charleston, S.C., where chef Sean Brock uses liquid nitrogen to create tiny pearls with the essence of a pork sandwich with vinegar sauce. There is also talk of pork ribs cooked sous vide-style and then finished on Japanese Komodo smokers at 5 Seasons Brewing in Atlanta. There are, of course, more tame variations-gas powered smoke boxes taking the place of traditional pits, etc. Still, Edge doesn't diss them. He points out that many of the new innovators are still rooted in tradition and wonders where they'll go next.

[Photo: Kyle Hood/JohnTEdge.com]

In the ever expanding health and diet market, even technology plays a role. We've seen online "diets" with eDiets, allowing people to track progress, take part in support fora, and even communicate with diet coaches. Now, you can make dieting even more mobile, on your cellular phone.

Sprint has launched MyFoodPhone, which is a sort of food journaling application. It allows consumers to take photos of food they eat and send it back to a nutritional advisor, who will analyze it and then send feedback to the consumer on a biweekly basis. The service also allows users to log into a web-based application via their phone to track their weight, level of exercise and calories burned. The advisors are trained as MyFoodPhone Nutrition Advisors. The service costs $9.99 a month.

I am all for "advances" in technology, and in my own preparation for swimsuit season, am interested in effective ways to slim down and shape up. However, I am not quite sure how I feel about this.

How about you send the pictures to me, and I'll send you a text message right back. "Don't eat it. Eat an apple instead, Chubby." I think that would be much more effective.

 

The tongue, in addition to being the best way to taste the food we love so much, is one of the most sensitive and perceptive transmitters in the entire body. Scientists at the Florida Institute for Human and Machine Cognition are working on a way to take advantage of the sensory capabilities of the tongue for far more than just taste. Using a small plastic strip to connect 144 micro-electrodes to the tongue, information about stationary and moving objects is sent to the wearer from a helmet known as the "Brain Port," which is equipped with small sensors and other equipment to take stock of the environment the wearer is in. In effect, this means that the tongue can allow people to "see" their environment when normal sight isn't possible or convenient, like underwater. Instead of having to read a device like a compass or a sonar machine while diving, a diver can receive directions through his tongue. One diver who was testing the device underwater "likened the feeling on his tongue to Pop Rocks candies," but could easily locate a small object via cues from the device on his tongue. Tests of the technology with blind participants showed that subjects could easily find doors and catch balls.

The scientists foresee military applications for the technology and will be demonstrating it to Navy and Marine Corps divers later this year.