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Upgrades Toys Hardware

Kitchen Internet Kiosk? 91

Posted by Cliff from the ode-to-the-Aubrey dept.
ZeLonewolf asks: "My parents are remodeling and greatly expanding their kitchen, and my mom would like to add a kitchen internet kiosk that would allow her to look up recipes online and watch TV. Since this is a kitchen, the display and input devices should be appropriate for a kitchen environment, i.e. resistant to dust and moisture. To eliminate the need for a mouse I priced out a touch-screen monitor for $600. The keyboard would need to be sealed, something like ThinkGeek's roll-up keyboard. I haven't been able to find pre-made kiosks for this purpose. Four years ago, the Audrey internet appliance would have been perfect for this sort of thing. Is there anything modern that comes close?"
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Kitchen Internet Kiosk? More

Kitchen Internet Kiosk?

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  • Toaster computer (Score:1, Informative)

    by jon_oner ( 753207 )
    How about a toaster computer? http://mywebpages.comcast.net/adamb29/project_page _1.htm Someone please set up a mirror before slashdotting the poor guy.

  • Computer vs. TV (Score:5, Insightful)

    by billh ( 85947 ) on Wednesday January 26, 2005 @06:57PM (#11485979)
    It would be better to seperate the TV and the computer. You will waste time and money trying to get them into one device. Get a cheap TV and wall mount it. Get a cheap computer (or laptop) and put it wherever. Maybe a toughbook?

    I'd like all of my data to be on one screen, too. It is just cheaper (and faster) to have more than one. If you can afford to put it on one, you wouldn't need this post on /.
    • If you already have a MythTV box set up (perferably with multiple tunners) then it would be nothing to set this up as a mythtv client. As for input, pick up a cheap $10 remote control, and use the mythtv plugin architecture to add your new apps, and bind the remote's keys to specific functions.
      This way, you've taken care of the tv, app, and input functionallity all in one shot.
    • With the advent of PVRs and PVR software such as MythTV, it's a damn good idea to combine a computer and a TV.

      I think at some point someone was working on a MythTV module called MythRecipe even...

      The nice thing about Myth is that the kitchen kiosk doesn't need a coaxial drop - A cat5 or 802.11g connection will give you both net access for bringing up recipes and the ability to stream video from a central recording box that contains the tuners.
    • Or get a good LCD TV, mount it on the wall in a safe spot. Plug the PC into the TV (S-Video, DVI, RCA out). Get a keyboard with a built-in trackball, trackpad or clit mouse for it. The Mini Mac is almost made-to-order for this.
  • That roll-up keyboard isn't sealed. It can certainly take a spill, but it's not submersible.

    It is all one piece of rubber except near the cord entry, so you may be able to use some silicone to seal that up and get an entirely sealed keyboard. But also remember that the rubber on this thing isn't very thick or strong at all.

  • Audrey still available (Score:3, Informative)

    by V. Mole ( 9567 ) on Wednesday January 26, 2005 @07:02PM (#11486044) Homepage

    Ebay usually has Audreys available, don't forget the USB ethernet adapter. FWIW, I've got one in my kitchen, it works fine, but it's browser is pretty limited: no javascript/java, which may make some of the popular recipe sites hard to use. If you're doing your own recipe DB though, no problem.

    As the other poster said, get a separate TV.

  • PowerDesk? (Score:3, Informative)

    by freitasm ( 444970 ) on Wednesday January 26, 2005 @07:03PM (#11486061) Homepage
    Check out the PowerDesk Kitchen [geekzone.co.nz] made by PowerDesk [powerdesk.com] for a kiosk/kitchen module...
  • The FingerWorks Touch-Stream keyboard is actually just two touch pads and also works as a mouse and will interpret hand gestures for certain operations, such as mouse scrolling. It is dust-proof and probably water resistant (or could probably be made water-proof with a bit of work).

    Here's the link:

    http://fingerworks.com/lp_product.html

    Unfortunately it is difficult to type on it without looking at the keys. It took me about a week to get comfortable with it and six months to approach my old typing speed
    • NO!!!

      it's dust proof because there aren't keys, but it is most definitely not kitchen proof!!!! water on the board is BAD, or anything else on your fingers when using the board...
    • $350 = about 35 cheap keyboards. Assuming your mom is the worst klutz in the world & a terrible house keeper to boot, she could -still- probably get 2 months per keyboard. Worst case, you'd go three years before justifying the purchase, and in reality most people will easily get 6 months or more out of a $10 keyboard. RSI won't be a significant concern for a kitchen system-- it's not like your going to be writing novels on it.

      For a kitchen computer, I'd go with a Shuttle system, which gives you a good

  • Audrey still good! (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Frank of Earth ( 126705 ) <frank AT fperkins DOT com> on Wednesday January 26, 2005 @07:11PM (#11486140) Homepage Journal
    I still use my Audrey! It's great for displaying recipes while cooking, seeing who called recently, checking the weather or to start playing mp3's through my home stereo.

    This is the simple menu I created for my Audrey:

    My Audrey [fperkins.com]

  • An idea for the keyboard... (Score:1, Interesting)

    by Anonymous Coward
    I remember seeing my dentist using a plastic wrapping over his keyboard, it seems like a good soultion if it's needed to type with dirty fingers. The plastic is easy to change; i think it'a roll of plastic behind the keyboard, so just pull off the old dirty plastic and you have a new layer.
    I have no idea where to buy something like this though... Shouldn't be too difficult to make yourself.
    • Expanding on that, how about a big clear plastic bag that the keyboard gets stuffed into (a sort of keyboard condom if you will).

      Get wireless and you can (hopefully) do a good job of sealing that up so you wouldn't have to worry about it falling into the sink.
      If it is wired, I'm not sure how well it could get sealed up, but it could be played with probably so that the cord exiting the bag is some distance away so a drop in the kitchen sink doesn't mean keyboard death due to water).
    • I used a keyskin keyboard cover when I was commissioned to do an art project that involved an Amiga and a video capture system that had to be rain and Coca Cola proof. The Video camera got cast in a block of concrete, and the Amiga keyboard lived in a keyskin like ones that can be found here. [compucover.com]
  • good move, at the rate of a cheap USB keyboard for $15-20, you'll catch up on the price of that monitor in no time. How miserably coated with gunk do you think that keyboard is going to be before it fails? Unless the psuedo-chef is slopping stuff around like the countertop hasn't had a decent meal in a month, you can save a bundle, and not have to worry about cleaning all the crap off the display every time you touch it.
  • Touch screens are one of those things that sound neat but in fact aren't [watson-net.com]. Also, the price seems a bit steep for the utility. I've seen new projectors for close to $600 (not that one would be appropriate for most kitchens)

    As for the keyboard, the one you have selected looks really neat, and I personally think it would be cool to have one. However, I might question the usability aspects of it. We have a public area computer, and the number one concern with the keyboard is being able to move it around
    • gorilla arm is not an issue in this application. he wants to use it for TV, thats maybe two taps to turn it on, one or two to change channels, thats it. then for recipe browsing, assume an alphabetical index, thats maybe two or three taps to get to any particular recipe. an average of 2 taps, probably every 10-20 minutes tops. not even close to a gorilla arm candidate.
      • Is it reasonable to assume the owner is only going to use the machine for recipes and tv? What about web browsing or emailing or chatting? Maybe the owner will start entering their own recipes onto the computer using word processing software. Who knows for sure?

        Maybe a touch screen is a good idea in the same way that an integrated pointing device on the keyboard is a good idea, but I still believe you should have a traditional mouse. Of course another downside to touchscreens is finger prints....
        • youre going to stand in your kitchen surfing the web when you could do it at your desk a room or two away? chatting... maybe, but wheres the clicking in that? emailing, again, very little clicking. i dont think this is meant to be an office computer. its for the chef to use, no more.
    • I agree with most of what you say. Touchscreens are OK, but they are expensive. Be sure to wash & dry your hands thouroughly before scrolling the page so you can see how much butter to add to your recipe. You forgot? No problem, a replacement monitor is only $600. You can buy an optical mouse for $10. Even if you have to buy a new one every 3 months, it would be years before you've paid the premium on you -first- TS monitor, let alone a replacement. Fry's had a 17" LCD for $200 last weekend. You get a l
    • Or, get a second-generation IBM Model M (one manufactured by Lexmark or Unicomp) or a Unicomp Customizer 101 or 104. Spill something in it, and it'll just come out the front of the keyboard.

  • Get a mouse anyway... (Score:1, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward
    ...and use a Mac Mini. Seriously.
  • This sounds like a job for the Mac Mini!
  • Two things.
    1 - Keyboards are cheap. Very cheap. There are many sub $20 keyboards out there that have better feel than any of the fancy "sealed" ones I have ever used.

    2 - Standard keyboards are amazingly hard to kill.

  • A Mac mini might be nice for this (Score:4, Insightful)

    by jht ( 5006 ) on Wednesday January 26, 2005 @07:52PM (#11486519) Homepage Journal
    You can go with a touchscreen and a waterproof USB keyboard, stash the mouse to the side for when you need it, and strap a mini under the cupboard. It'll fit nicely and pretty darn unobtrusively assuming the cabinets are deep enough to mount lights underneath.

    You can mount the touchscreen alongside, on a swing mount that can let them stow it underneath the cupboard when not using the computer. I saw something similar done last week with a TV on This Old House.
    • Believe it or not, o moderators, that wasn't a troll. Whoever modded my parent down is just an anti-Mac radical fanatic. A mini is a very good candidate for use in a kitchen - provided you don't store it on the counter where it would be exposed to the elements. But no PC is really good for the job, either. You need to go under-cabinet for the safest use.

      The only other really viable candidate for the job besides a Mac mini is one of the super-slim Mini-ITX boxes (I've actually got one of those that I us
      • the whole askslashdot was built to give "gimme a mac-mini as the answer... and solve the input somehow, like suggest an optical one button mouse" as the answer.

        however.. flour.. flour in your precious mini. the g4 cube would have worked find in the kitchen but think again of the mini. FLOUR IN YOUR MINI, STUCKING IN THERE. flour in the tiiiny whirling fan. so you'd at least want to stick in the cupboard or somewhere and it becomes quite irrelevant if it's few cm's bigger or not.
    • I saw this, too, I'd recommend sticking a mac mini in a cabinet with bluetooth and airport for the "wiring". Buy the adaptor to hook it up to a TV for the display, drill a small hall for the video cable and you are set. If you can't keep your hands clean, put one of those plastic cases on the keyboard. And stow the keyboard/mouse when you aren't using them.

  • If you do then this is the toy for you. I ran across it a while ago and bookmarked it for my post-lottery kitchen remodel.

    iCEBOX FlipScreen [beyondconnectedhome.com]

  • First i'll suggest the obvious -- a flat panel iMac. It's not water/splash proof, but it fits the role quite nicely. Not too expensive considering what you get too.

    A more practical solution (for you PC users out there) is the Sony Vaio PCV-W series. This is an all-in-one series (similar to the G5 iMac) with a built-in fold-down keyboard. It's pretty good for kitchen use because the LCD is covered by an eigth-inch thick piece of plexiglass (or lexan. i'm not sure) -- you'd need a hammer/very sharp objec
    • I think that the iMac G5 [apple.com] is probably one of the best choices since you can get software/hardware that enables touchscreen capabilities on it... here's one from a company called Troll Touch [trolltouch.com] and another one from Magic Touch [magictouch.com] ... I've never used these products, but they seem like they would work pretty well. The iMac G5 could be mounted on the wall or sit on an unused (yeah, right) portion of the counter. If a keyboard and mouse is needed, the blue-tooth wireless ones [apple.com] would work pretty well. They could be st
    • I agree, my aunt has this machine in her kitchen, it's perfect to watch tv on or surf the web, then you can fold the keyboard up and it the top half of the screen is a clock/display for playing music.
      Nice.

  • Touchsrceens and boards (Score:4, Informative)

    by Gigs ( 127327 ) on Wednesday January 26, 2005 @08:46PM (#11487005) Homepage Journal
    Lilliput 7" touchscreens are only $279 at www.mp3car.com [mp3car.com]. Prefect for and undercabinet mounting. Combine that with a mini-itx board and you have a great kiosk or mp3 car player.

    Other links of interest:

    Linux Touch Screen HOWTO [tldp.org]
    EPIA HOWTO [sympatico.ca]
    Gentoo EPIA HOWTO [epiawiki.org]
    Nehemiah Hardware Entropy Generator [peertech.org]
    VIA PadLock support for Linux [logix.cz]

    • This is not a very good idea for this particular application. Sure it's small, which makes installation easy, but that same advantage becomes a disadvantage as soon as your eyesight starts to go. Most modern websites use designs that require relatively wide displays-- usually at least 800x600. On a 7" display, that means VERY tiny pixels. Since the specified application is a kitchen computer for browsing recipes & watching TV for the posters parents, a 7" display is basically useless.
  • It's small size and available bluetooth for wireless keyboard, wireless card builtin, not sticking out the back, etc. etc. seems perfect for this application....

    Also if you put the keyboard and mouse into a air-tight cabinet or drawer of some sort you won't need to worry about whether they are themselves damage proof, ie: make a pullout drawer with a hidden surface on a roller track.. put a rubber seal around the drawer and keep it closed when not in use. If you go with wireless you won't have to worry abo

    • put the Mac mini under it in a air-tight cabinet under the drawer

      Do that and dinner won't be the only thing cooking in that kitchen! Computers, even slow and small ones line the Mac Mini, need ventilation.

      Does anyone still make IR grid 'touch' screens? I haven't seen one in over 15 years.

      Frankly, this sounds like a good application for a tablet PC, but you'd have to use something like the Hauppauge WinTV USB adapter, which doesn't produce a good full-screen image, and would add wires and clutter

      • I didn't mean to throw common sense out the window... airtight from the kitchen is what I should have said.... sure have a filtered air intake and an exhaust of some sort.

        Guess I got ahead of myself there a little though, assuming some things would be assumed ;-p

        thanks for completing my post though.

  • An iCEBOX for the kitchen (Score:3, Insightful)

    by tverbeek ( 457094 ) on Wednesday January 26, 2005 @09:27PM (#11487357) Homepage
    It's a bit pricey, it's based on WinCE, and it's on its fourth or fifth "focus shift", redesign, and/or corporate parent since I first found it years ago (researching alternatives to WebTV), but the iCEBOX [beyondconnectedhome.com] may be the last remaining "internet appliance" on the market.
  • A friend installed a Sony ICF-CD555TV (small screen, builtt for the kitchen), and also carries a notebook around from room-to-room. I agree with numerous other responses: don't try to combine TV and computer. I think the Sony device takes video inputs, so you could route your computer display to it. Seems like a geeky thing to do. (Which is probably good.) You could also simply print a fresh copy of your computerized recipe to spill things on while cooking... :)
  • "Since this is a kitchen, the display and input devices should be appropriate for a kitchen environment, i.e. resistant to dust and moisture."

    And what is the difference between a kitchen and a hospital lab? Nothing. And labs have tons of computer equipment.

    The environment in a kitchen is nothing special ... use a cheap keyboard and an optical mouse (the trackball gums up) on a low-end computer. Adding a TV card so they can watch TV is probably not a good idea. Unless the best location for the TV is

    • Don't forget a printer for the recipes ... stick it in a pullout drawer to keep it clean

      Why not just stick a regular TV in there and just use a printer on her regular PC then?

      Until I have a fridge that tells me what I've got and what I can make with it, it sounds a bit pointless.

  • My dream kitchen computer (Score:3, Interesting)

    by debest ( 471937 ) on Wednesday January 26, 2005 @11:11PM (#11488153)
    I posted this the last time [slashdot.org] Slashdot talked about kitchen computers, might as well re-post...
    _______

    The problems with a kitchen computer are numerous:

    - Space - No one wants to give up counter space for a computer, and besides it would be a pain to lean over (you don't sit down very much in the kitchen).
    - Cleanliness - a keyboard and mouse would be ruined in short order.
    - Noise - maybe a bit of a minor issue, but it's always better to have less noise.

    I always thought the following would be cool:

    Hardware

    - Motherboard - a mini-ITX motherboard would be perfect (low energy, possible fanless operation, tiny, integrated everything).
    - Enclosure - a slim box that would mount sideways, screwed to the side inside of one of the upper cabinets.
    - Cooling - if heat is a issue, a plenum could run on the inside of the cabinet from holes on the bottom of the cabinet through the enclosure to the ceiling. A fan to draw air through (as well as the power supply, ethernet, etc.) would all be up out of sight
    - Screen - an LCD panel with touch-like screen, mounted portrait layout, right on the cabinet door (so that it is right at eye level, and out of reach of the small kids).
    - Pen - whether it is a true touch screen (like a PDA) or a wired light pen, I don't know, but this would be the primary input device.
    - Speakers & microphone - small, slim models also mounted into the cabinet door.
    - USB/Firewire connections - for quick upload & download to/from a PDA, camera, memory keychain, etc.
    - another PC - running as a server.

    Note that I don't want a hard drive, keyboard, or mouse. The most work in this would be physically installing the screen & speakers in the door so it looks good and the wires flex properly with the door swing, and with designing the motherboard enclosure and plenum. Oh, and wiring everything through the ceiling.

    Software

    - X-terminal setup - this machine would be boot-on-LAN, and all storage would be over Ethernet - run as much as possible on the server end.

    - Handwriting recognition - since the machine would never be used for entering in large amounts of data (I don't code while cooking), there is no need for a keyboard (most entry would be on the server, and this would mostly be a "retrieval" device) - but there should be a handwriting code for when you need to enter in text, maybe like Palm's graffiti.

    - Applications - I want this machine to do the following functions
    - Organizer - standard PDA stuff (calendar, address, to-do, notes, calculator, etc.)
    - Recipe database - duh! (and actually useful, given the screen's location)
    - Message centre - retrieve both voice and email messages
    - "Thumbtack" board - leave notes for others in the house (vocal or written)
    - Browser - access to the Web and local files
    - Live Broadcast - you could access TV, radio, etc. with server-based tuners
    - Stored Entertainment - play back mp3, divx, etc.

    No word processing, spreadsheets, photo editing, games, etc. here! Just stuff that makes sense in the kitchen (communication, passive information and entertainment).

    Even if all the pieces were in place for doing everything I want here, there would be a lot of work to build an interface that would pull it all together nicely. All apps would be set up for as little data entry as possible (tapping on buttons should be the main interaction).

    Of course, all this is way beyond my abilities, time, and cash flow to actually do. But that's my dream kitchen machine.
    ____________

    Since I posted that over 2 years ago, nothing's changed. The configuration is still exactly what I want, and I still have no way to build it :-)

    • Once again, it sounds like an ideal application for a Windows XP Tablet PC, except that you have the O/S and storage locally, and no X-Windows or TV (unless you have a Windows MCE box somewhere saving shows to disk, and want to play them later on the Tablet).

      These are small, quiet, do handwriting and voice recognition, have touch-screen and can run any application that runs under Windows. Unfortunately, they also cost from $1,600 and up, which makes them more expensive than a low-end Mac Mini with a flat

      • it sounds like an ideal application for a Windows XP Tablet PC

        Interesting, never really thought of that. How heavy are the things? Could you comfortably put a big one into a cupboard door?
  • We have one in our kitchen. It's decent. It looks nice, it doesn't take up a lot space. We have the keyboard mounted under a counter - it's got an integrated pointing device. The downside is that it's really not upgradeable as it has mostly non-standard parts.

    You can find them on ebay [ebay.com]. Not cheap, but not crazy expensive either.
  • I have an old P133 laptop booting to a Knoppix image copied to its hard drive sitting on my kitchen counter. I have a linksys wireless card that Knoppix recognizes providing the network link. I also started a Recipants database (google it) so we could save our favorite recipes and look them up from the laptop.

    It is slow, but I've recently found a way to significantly boost its speed -- VNC to the 1.4 GHz machine upstairs. Running mozilla on the 133 MHz processor is painful, but the old processor runs a
  • No, seriously:

    http://www.lginternetfamily.co.uk/fridge.asp [lginternetfamily.co.uk]

    I could only find a UK link for it, but it seems like it might serve what you want, although I'm not sure about watching TV...

    - Built-in TV tuner for watching TV broadcasts
    - Built-in MP3 player for downloading music
    - Internet Radio for listening to radio stations
    - Built-in video camera for taking still photos
    - Built-in CCD camera
  • But get rid of roll up keyboard and have a virtual keyboard overlaid.

    It is a touch screen after all...

    When you get it up have it all nice and working with linux drivers ecetera (for touch screen) whipe up a knoppix distro and I will love to slap it in my kitchen.

    Watch porn while having a pot noodle. haut cuisine or what.
  • I've seen these metal keyboards [eaoswitch.com] used in outdoor kiosks before. You'd have to come up with a housing to mount it in but it would look pretty cool.

  • Reality (Score:2, Interesting)

    by pete-classic ( 75983 )
    I suggest getting a little TV and mounting it under a cupboard. Get a printer for a PC in another room and bring recipes to the kitchen that way.

    -Peter
  • Some of us in NYC order our groceries from freshdirect.com. Their ordering web site is where I keep my grocery list - no need for the paper-refridgerator-magnet thing anymore. But I'm a lazy bastard who hates to walk to the other room to put butter on the list. Gimme a browser in my kitchen and my life would be complete! (A beer fridge in the living room wouldn't hurt either).

    o-sl-o
  • http://www.uq.edu.au/ben/Cheapo_Fridge_Kiosk.jpg [uq.edu.au] This cost $120 for the refridgerator and $80 for the PC h/ware. It is now the most used terminal in the house. * NOTE the cheap Russian sweets wrapper collection on the freezer panel adds flair and colour :)

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