With the people’s changing life style towards comfortability, fridge has almost become an integral part of every house hold as one of our most-used appliances. The device not only helps in providing cold drinks and fresh food items but is helpful in many ways. It keeps all perishable items (e.g., fruits & vegetables, milk and its products, eatables) fresh for a limited period of time which saves both money and time. It is expected that such super-smart appliances will change our life. Though, sometimes it is also causing a big source of wastage of food items when people store more and consume less within the stipulated time period. Fridge technology has improved to a large extent and market is full of its different versions offering many advantages to customers in terms of cost, capacity, energy savings, durability, low noise levels, appearance, handling, light weight, less space etc.
Characteristics of future fridge
In a changing life style of civilization with little time for household chores - the fridge could help to save precious time during hectic modern-day lives and future of fridge is expected to meet all the demands and will reduce people’s time required to be spent with the use of fridge. People’s expectations have always motivated scientists and engineers towards innovations in any technology and fridge is not left behind in this race. Scientists, engineers and companies are continuously working towards changes in fridge technology to make them more appealing to customers. A fridge of the future is expected with many innovations fulfilling different expectations of the users as:
Energy savings: We can control temperature, humidity and air quality, with smart freezers that remain resolutely frost-free. The system adapts to the user’s lifestyle, monitoring temperature, light and how often the door is opened and making subtle changes to save energy - for example, using less cooling power at night. The fridge will also have sophisticated humidity and temperature sensors, which are also accessible through the fridge's network hub.
Self cleaning: Futuristic refrigerator will be a self-cleaning device. Ultrasound-scanning technology built into the door will allow the fridge to swipe and capture the food on a plate before and after mealtime, meaning it can assess what type and amount of food is wasted.
More than a storing place: The new generation of fridges makes tea and soup, plan meals and have in-built coffee machines. Latest models feature the use of blue and green LED lights in the vegetable crisper that activate the natural defenses of fruit and vegetable to keep them fresh. The device's most interesting feature will be an embedded camera keeping an eye on what's in the fridge, accessible through remote apps or the touch screen tablet built into the fridge's right door. The camera is designed to help monitor spoilage, letting us know about a particular bowl of leftovers without opening the door.
Fridge well in advance: The planned new features include the ability for fridges to scan their shelves to see what is in stock and use this information to both plan meals and automatically place a supermarket food order. If the specific item for a recipe is not present, the refrigerator might suggest a delayed option, which allows time for delivery, or possibly attempt to find or propose a passable alternative for the missing ingredient.
Waste control: The fridge will also monitor gases released by degrading foods and push these to the front of its shelves. The smart fridge will use 'nano-articulated technology' shelf surfaces which, whilst smooth to the touch, will have millions of independently controlled micro-tiles which will manoeuvre products which soon need to be eaten to the front of the fridge. Cut down on wasted food and offer up recipes - which could be tailored to different countries, cuisines and seasons depending on people’s choice. Technological advances in the kitchen bin, with its own management system, would further allow it to be linked to the fridge giving a more accurate measure of how much and what kinds of food are thrown out rather than eaten. The fridge of the future would then be able to cross reference and act on this data - reducing the ingredients used in future meal suggestions and helping to minimize food waste.
Useful compartmentalization: The latest fridges are compartmentalized for optimum storage. Different food items are stored in compartments of different temperatures to ensure they keep longer and avoid odors mixing.
Fridge with internet-of-things: Along with the core functions, there are some surprising extras, like a stereo speaker system and a news-and-weather system on the tablet display. The fridge will also come with seasonal recipes built in. The idea of fridges with sound systems has been around for a while, and few companies have introduced out-of view, Bluetooth-enabled speakers, built-in LCD televisions, A/V connection, Wi-Fi connections in the fridges. It can also make and receive phone calls. Fridge will be designed to hook into the Internet of Things; all those tricks will work as well on Smartphone as they do on the onboard tablet.
Connecting fridge: A smart fridge will stay in touch with the user during the day, for example, letting to know the missing ingredient needed to be pick up on the way home for dinner. Intelligent sensors on the latest fridges keep the user updated on power use and assist with meal preparation. Meanwhile, futuristic smart ovens will complement ingenious fridge with features that monitor the internal temperature of food, cook meals in time for our arrival at home and let us share recipes with friends. A refrigerator will detect movements and will open the door for the user. The door opens slightly when we place our foot near a sensor, so we’ll still have to open the door fully the old fashioned way. It also features a transparent wi-fi display on the front which lights up internally when we give it a knock, revealing the contents without opening the door.