While we cover smart appliances extensively here on The Spoon, we’re pretty hesitant about getting a smart fridge. They are pretty expensive, and since they are basically connected computers that also keep your food cold, there’s a greater chance that they will become obsolete. My “dumb” fridge may not have many bells and whistles, but a software upgrade will never brick it.
With its Fridge Eye, Munich-based brezzl.GmbH is looking to bring at least one feature of modern smart fridges to the one you already have — a connected camera. The Fridge Eye can be attached to the inside of a fridge, freezer or cupboard, and it takes a photo of whatever’s inside every time the door is closed. That image is beamed over WiFi to an app the Fridge Eye app on your mobile phone, so when you’re out grocery shopping, you know what you already have and don’t waste money or food with redundant purchases.
The camera battery is rechargeable, and brezzl. says that it is working on image recognition and recipe suggestion based on what you have in future releases.
Brezzl. is currently in the midst of a Fridge Eye crowdfunding campaign on Indiegogo, where it hopes to raise $25,000 to bring its product to market. Interested backers can get a Fridge Eye for $79. The apps are already available for download on iOS, iPadOS and Android and have shopping list creation and sharing features.
Fridge Eye comes at the same time that Smarter has announced its FridgeCam PLUS, launched in partnership with AEG/Electrolux. As we wrote last month, this upgraded FridgeCam features:
“…wider and higher-resolution image, as well as SmarterAssist, so it can recognize items in your fridge. The accompanying app, which is new, gives users an inventory of their fridge, an expiration date tracker, shopping lists and automated links for item re-stocking through Tesco and Amazon Fresh in the UK.”
Smarter didn’t release pricing information for the new Fridge Cam PLUS, but the previous version sells for £149.99.
As with any crowdfunded hardware campaign — buyer beware. History has shown that making hardware is hard and many products don’t make it to market (just ask the backers of Rite Press). But if you are looking for a smart fridge solution without spending thousands of dollars on a whole new appliance, getting a connected camera may not be a dumb idea.