As we get further into the 21st century, it has become a world full of data, web 2.0, and technology. Our lives are becoming more efficient as the Internet encompasses all media forms. The Internet of Things makes everything in our daily lives “smart” since it consists of using physical objects such as vehicles and buildings that are embedded with electronics, sensors, and network connectivity. By increasing machine-to-machine communication, it makes everything in the home connected.

For all food lovers out there, one trend happening within the Internet of Things is kitchen technology. With ovens that clean themselves and espresso machines that work through a text message, we are heading towards simplifying our daily lives. Three appliances we decided to further look into are the pressure cooker, refrigerator, and fork. Since smart refrigerators and kitchen cookers were one of the more common kitchen technologies sold, we wanted to introduce something that all households could find use for, for those that are unaware of this industry. As for the fork, how could something so mundane become "smart?" To us, this common utensil represents the more unique and interesting trend going on with kitchen technology. With a little bit of technology inputted within these machines, it opens the possibilities of the typical home life as well as broader implications such as in restaurants and in hospitals.

The future of kitchen technology and smart houses is projected to grow significantly by 2020. By that time everything in our homes will be connected to each other in more ways than we can imagine. "Hundreds of tech analysts foresee a future with “smart” devices and environments that make people’s lives more efficient.” According to research done by IHS, a leading business analyst, they project that there will be more that 470,000,000 connected appliance’s in homes across the united states by 2020. The smart appliances market is also projected to be worth 37.2 Billion. It will be fascinating to see what new and innovative products will be introduced before that time. 

References:

• http://www.wareable.com/smart-home/smart-home-appliances-to-total-more-than-470-million-by-2020-1537
• http://www.wareable.com/smart-home/best-smart-kitchen-devices
• http://www.pewinternet.org/2012/06/29/the-future-of-smart-systems-2/
• http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/PressReleases/smart-appliances.asp