Microsoft’s ‘smart’ fridge comes with a dash of Artificial Intelligence

So many times, we run out of veggies and dairy products in our fridge but forget to restock them. Seems like, a cure for our human forgetfulness is finally here, a fridge that identifies the multitude of objects contained within and which can inform you if you are running out of milk.

To make our normal looking electronic appliance smarter and cooler and save those extra trips to grocery store, Microsoft is deploying its Microsoft Cognitive Services Computer Vision API in our fridge by bringing its Cortana suite in collaboration with Liebherr’s appliance division.

This refrigerator works upon a deep learning algorithm model that can learn new food types based on its experience from processing millions of generic food packaging images, and it should be able to get smarter very quickly while in use when and if it eventually comes to market, using data gathered from a wide pool of real-world users.

Though the market already has fridges that let you look inside remotely and check if you need to bring something home, Microsoft is taking the game to a whole new level.The system is also designed to have a long lifecycle and will use Modular units that can be integrated and upgraded. So, you can basically add new modules to upgrade and improve upon the existing system.

Apart from capturing images, this process also recognizes individual food items inside the refrigerator. The whole information is then automatically stored into an inventory list, which will then let the customer take note of everything in the refrigerator from anywhere.

The fridge is just a prototype for now although the deep learning technology deployed by it has matured and is quite powerful. Liebherr and Microsoft are also continuously working to improve these technologies so that your fridges in a few years, can actually provide you with the complete answer to almost all your kitchen needs.