Triumphs Of Science

Innovation and technology are driving changes to some of the most-used items in the house

- Sarah Pickette

Technology has touched just about every corner of the home now – and it continues to evolve at an incredibly rapid pace. There’s no question that there are many benefits that come from embracing the latest technology in home appliances and fixtures, and much of it is already working hard for us. Take the robot vacuum: it maps out where to clean and remembers its route for next time. Or the dishwasher that has ‘smart diagnosis’ functionality that alerts you to faults that need fixing. Or smart power plugs that mean, if you’ve rushed out and left the iron on, you can turn it off via your phone. You can buy all of these things now. Brands are investing heavily in product innovation (after all, it’s what will give them a sales and marketing edge) and some of the results are quite dazzling.

KITCHEN

“The biggest innovation this year is probably AEG’s induction cooktop that features a wireless probe,” says Gary Brown, senior brand manager for home appliances at Harvey Norman. The SensePro probe measures the core temperature of whatever you’re cooking and will tell you when to turn it or take it off the heat. “It has no wires or batteries and charges itself using the magnetic properties of the cooktop.”

If that doesn’t blow your mind, Miele’s latest flex-zone induction cooktop will. “It remembers the temperature you’ve had a pan, no matter where you move it on the cooktop,” says Gary. “You can have six pots and pans cooking at various temperatures and it will remember every one of them if you shift them around to pull one to the front to stir it.” If you prefer gas cooking to induction, Smeg has developed a dual-fuel cooktop for the best of both worlds.