Kitchen Coach Web / Chromecast / Echo App

2021-03-09 / 4 min read
Last updated: 2024-06-07

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Click here to open the live project in a new tab

Click here to open the source code in a new tab

Skip down to the Chromecast app sketches

https://youtu.be/aU74WOvNuuI

Video Demo

The beginning

I have a bad habit of eating late at night, so my idea to combat this is to have a device placed in the kitchen that listens for sound input. If it were to detect sound, it would make remind me and maybe shew me away by playing a recording…

The requirement for this project was to use audio input on a mobile device, and the application could have been web-based or an app. I choose to create a web-based application in React.js which is something I am more comfortable with.

Initial brainstorm gave me an idea of a spy detector kind of device:

The sketch describes a use case scenario of a sound detector

I did not want to be fixed only on this idea, so I tried thinking out of the box and came up with an app that listens to aspiring vocalists, to see if they can match their voice to a note.

A note is given and the vocalist needs to sing that note

Based on sound frequency the app would give feedback to either go lower or higher

If the vocalist matches the note, a star is awarded

The final decision

My heart was set on doing something related to food. I build on top of the idea from the beginning and thought of having a coach for intermittent fasting.

If you are not aware, intermittent fasting gives you an eating time window, it has a start time and an end time. Between these times you are permitted to eat however many times you wish, and it has been shown to reduce appetite in the long run, leading to weight loss.

There are some limitations to this, having an eating window longer than 12 hours does not achieve anything, and the smaller the eating window the more profound the beneficial effects are. Of course, someone new cannot jump on intermittent fasting and do a warrior fast, which is to eat only one meal a day, but through training, you reduce your eating window gradually and at a 4-hour mark you get the best bang for your buck, you get most of the benefits from a once a day meal while still having flexibility when you eat.

A phone is placed on the kitchen table

A food con artist opening the fridge

The phone responds to the disturbance

Based on the understanding of intermittent fasting I came up with the following screens I had to implement. I decided to name this app "Kitchen Coach" as it tells you what to do for physical prowess in the kitchen.

Lo-Fi sketches of Kitchen Coach

Google Chromecast / Amazon Echo App

At this point, I have completed the application for the project, but I believe this app would best be used as a Google Chromecast / Amazon Echo type of device application, as these devices listen for sound 24/7.

I have sketched out a scenario that shows how it could seamlessly be implemented, although in practicality there are restrictions that prevented me from developing it.

Enjoy!

A Chromecast set on a kitchen table

Syncing bad behaviour with the cloud