Sony AI, an artificial intelligence and robotics research and development company spun out from Sony, today announced its “Gastronomy Flagship Project.” The new food-related endeavors include an AI-powered recipe creation app, a robot chef’s assistant and a community co-creation initiative.
Sony launched Sony AI last November and the unit became its own company in April of this year. Sony AI’s mission is to develop AI-related products for videogames, imaging and sensing, and gastronomy “with the aim of enhancing the creativity and techniques of chefs around the world,” according to today’s press announcement.
To that end, the three projects Sony AI announced today are:
- AI-Powered Recipe Creation App – Gathering up data such as aroma, flavor, molecular structure, nutrients and more, this app will use AI algorithms to help chefs create novel food pairing, recipes and menus.
- Chef Assisting Cooking Robot – This is pretty self-explanatory. Sony AI will develop a robot that can mimic the physical actions of a human chef to do everything from preparing to plating dishes.
- Community Co-creation Initiative – This project is a little more vague, with Sony AI only saying it will “aim to contribute to the long-term sustainability of the community” through relationships with universities, research institutes, companies and more. The first step in this process is a “Chef Interview” video series on the Sony AI website.
Sony AI’s press release didn’t provide specific details around when or where these projects would launch (other than the video series).
But today’s announcement continues a trend we’ve been seeing with large electronics corporations doing advanced work on food robotics and AI. LG is working on robot waiters with Woowa Brothers in South Korea. And Panasonic is working with with the Haidilao chain of hot pot restaurants in China to develop a robotic kitchen.
Sony itself is no slouch when it comes to food-related robots. The company collaborated on cooking robot research with Carnegie-Mellon University a couple years back. And it has a pretty grand vision for advanced AI-powered cooking robots and assistants that could make Michelin star meals in your home.
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