GE's new smart fridge handles grocery shopping for you
What's the story
GE Appliances has unveiled its latest innovation in home technology - the Profile Smart 4-Door French-Door Refrigerator with Kitchen Assistant. The new model, which will be available from April at a price tag of $4,899, comes with an integrated barcode scanner for grocery shopping. The scanner is located under an 8.0-inch tablet and above the water dispenser.
Functionality
How the new fridge works
The barcode scanner, interior camera, and tablet work together to help users manage their shopping lists. You can scan empty packages as you remove them from the fridge or pantry. This automatically adds them to your shopping list in GE's SmartHQ App with details like brand, flavor, and size. You can also manually add items using the touchscreen or voice commands via a built-in voice assistant called "Hey, HQ."
Capabilities
Advanced features for meal planning and food waste management
The new fridge comes with access to recipes from Taste of Home and a meal-planning feature. You can add ingredients from a recipe to your shopping list with just a few taps. The interior camera keeps an eye on your crisper drawer, letting you check if you're running low on certain items while at the store via the app. GE plans to integrate an AI-powered object tracking system into its SmartHQ App in the future for more precise food tracking.
Assistant features
SmartHQ voice assistant and music streaming capabilities
The SmartHQ voice assistant can not only add items to your shopping list but also set kitchen timers, dispense exact amounts of water, and answer questions about the fridge. Unlike other voice assistants like Alexa or Google Assistant, it doesn't respond verbally but displays answers on the screen. You can also use a built-in speaker and microphone to stream music and podcasts while cooking.