FCS News

Faculty of Computer Science Professor Derek Reilly and collaborators have created your future kitchen.  Or, at least, a digitally interactive version of how that kitchen may appear twenty years from now.

Dr. Reilly has teamed up with Professor Sarah Bonnemaison of the Faculty of Architecture and Planning, and artists Lukas Pierce and Robin Muller, to design and create an interactive exhibition titled “My Mother’s Kitchen.”

My Mother’s Kitchen traces the engagement of architecture with the idea of the “modern kitchen” across the 20^th century.  Inspired by various kitchens around the world, the exhibit explores the evolution of the kitchen and how they may continue to evolve in the future. 

The display is broken up into a series of smaller exhibits, each showcasing its own unique interactive element.  The multi media experience integrates architecture, visual arts, interactivity and electronics. 

Reilly designed and developed the “Future Kitchen” exhibit with CS undergrad (and NSCAD grad) Ben Swinden, and postdoctoral researcher Gary Hu.  As with other parts of My Mother’s Kitchen, the exhibit reflects on the relationship between kitchen design and the study of human movement. 

“This involves interactively designing a kitchen by selecting possible future appliances, etc. and placing them on a projected floor plan,” says Reilly.  “The Future Kitchen in particular is being used to compare two techniques for using our bodies to select and manipulate items on floor-projected interactive displays.”

Computer Science PhD student Stephen Kelly has also contributed a piece to the exhibition, in collaboration with Alan Macy from Biopac Systems, Inc. The reclining “Breathing Chair” detects shifts in weight distribution caused by breathing and reflects this in a display that hangs above the chair.

Students, faculty and staff are encouraged to drop by the exhibit, which is on display at the School of Architecture (5410 Spring Garden Road).

My Mother’s Kitchen will run all week until Sunday, from 10am to 7pm each day.

The exhibit is free.