“The Kitchen Hideaway is a future virtual-reality concept that allows the inhabitants of a communal building to imagine being in a kitchen, preparing a particular meal rather than having to do this in a ‘real’, large & expansive kitchen.

This concept placed 4th amongst  1300 other entries submitted to the Electrolux Design Lab Competition 2010 themed towards compact living within the year 2050.  The following images outline the presentation that was given at the 100% Design London Exhibition during the competition final.

The Home Base creates the user’s own computer generated kitchen. It also provides a Viewport so the user can see their virtual space from reality. The Head Set allows the user to enter their Kitchen Hideaway and cook their own surreal virtual meal. The virtual actions of the user are accurately transmitted to an automated food factory within the building where the meal is prepared with real ingredients. The final meal is then delivered to the user. In addition, by handling the building’s occupant meals in bulk, space and energy savings can be optimized. It also eliminates the wasted energy that would be used shopping for groceries.

The Kitchen Hideaway creates a virtual food preparation area that occupies no physical space so the clutter, energy costs and maintenance of your own physical kitchen don’t exist anymore. Everything inside this space is indistinguishable from reality. It allows the user to fully customize their own virtual kitchen and share it with others. It also gives those with physical disabilities a chance to cook in their Hideaway without restriction. The user’s personal recipes can also be saved and replicated on demand – when the user doesn’t’t feel like cooking – ‘virtually’.”

Check out the video below to see the other 7 Finalist Concepts.