We remain cynical but open-minded about the idea of smart appliances. What we’ve seen so far isn’t all that impressive: from the potential for kitchen appliances to launch cyberattacks to an incredibly stupid WiFi-enabled drip coffeemaker, we aren’t really sold on the idea yet. News of a new oven available for pre-order that is able to sense what you’re cooking and automatically determine how to cook it has us intrigued.

Normally we shy away from reporting on gadgets that aren’t available for sale already, since we also report on plenty of failed projects funded through pre-orders and crowdfunding. The company behind the June oven, though, has actual investors as well as taking deposits on their first product, a smart oven equipped with WiFi, a high-definition video camera, and a built-in digital scale.

That camera gives the oven two superpowers: First, it can identify certain foods using that camera, like a tray of cookies or a steak (the two major Consumerist food groups [editor’s note: don’t forget cheese]) and automatically know how to cook them.

And second, in case you don’t trust the oven, you can keep an eye on how well the cookies are browning from inside the appliance, using the same camera that the oven uses to figure out what it’s cooking.

The first ovens won’t ship to consumers until the spring of 2016, so we’ll reserve judgement until then. Live-streaming one’s dinner seems like too much appliance smartness… but I could be on the wrong side of history here.

June [Official Site]
Review: June Smart Oven Offers to Cook for You [Wall Street Journal]

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