A Kitchen That Talks? This One Teaches French

30 October 2011

The French Digital Kitchen uses motion sensor technology similar to the Nintendo Wii game system

This is the VOA Special English Technology Report.

A "talking kitchen" teaches students how to cook French and speak French. Researchers at New Castle University in the United Kingdom have developed the French Digital Kitchen. Professors Paul Seedhouse and Patrick Olivier led the project. Professor Seedhouse told us on Skype that it works like a satellite navigation system in a car.

PAUL SEEDHOUSE: “The sat nav speaks to you and it tells you, for example, to turn left. And if you turn left then it continues with the program. If, for example, you turn right, then it’s a mistake, so it loops back and it gives you further instructions.”

The kitchen equipment and tools use motion sensor technology similar to the Nintendo Wii game system. The sensors help a computer guide the students through instructions in French.

PAUL SEEDHOUSE: "The system can tell whether you’ve done what you were asked to do or not. So let’s say, for example, the system tells you to take some butter and cut it with a knife, right? There’s a sensor on the package containing the butter so it can tell where the butter's being moved. The sensor in the knife not only knows that the knife is moving, but it also knows what motion the knife is making. So it can detect whether the knife is slicing, whether it’s scraping or what. And so it doesn’t go on to the next stage of the program unless you’ve done what it senses you’ve done."