A giant step in computer-assisted cooking

Andrea Wood | July 25, 2006, 10:48 AM

Years ago, just after the release of the Palm Pilot, a friend decided to abandon cookbooks altogether in favor of storing his recipes in his Palm Pilot. That way, he could check ingredient lists in the store, and cook on demand. (Only problem was he worked as a developer and spent far more time coding than he did cooking. But that’s beside the point.) My friend is also a avid gamer, and is equally intrigued with the recently released-in-Japan DS Cooking Navigator. Instead of demanding the cook to constantly check the recipe, the DS uses voices prompts to queue the next step. For those ambitious enough to try cooking but not trusting of their abilities, photos of each step are also provided on screen. It’s a foolproof approach to cooking - so long as the user doesn't stray from instruction.