Watch How a 'Cooking Machine' Allows for Long-Distance Chef Collaboration

Does cooking always have to be an embodied action? A machine created by a group of designers, programmers, and chefs explores how "Collaborative Cooking" can be achieved by a group people that never come into physical contact with each other or the ingredients at hand. PSFK explains the device: The machine contains 35 possible ingredients (including meat, produce, and spices) and has the ability to heat and stir what's been placed in its central pot. Five chefs interact with the machine remotely, controlling ingredient additions, spice amounts, and timing, which each step physically and digitally archived for posterity.

The "cooking" process unfolds entirely without any direct communication between the participants: Instead, the project aims to discover what happens when "all the actions in the cooking process are direct reactions to other chef's decisions."

According to the accompanying video, the Collaborative Cooking process takes anywhere between 10 to 20 hours, "slow cooking" in the truest sense of the phrase. The machine made its debut at last month's Clerkenwell Design Week in London, and the team plans to display it once again at Sweden's Atelier Food next week. Go, watch:

Video: Collaborative Cooking

· Collaborative Cooking [Vimeo]
· Cooking Machine Lets Chefs Cook from Their Phones [PSFK]
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