When it comes to carrying on a conversation with a kitchen countertop, timing is everything.
Do it in 1992, you just might be drunk. Do it in 2012, you just might be an average high-tech-age homeowner. Do it sometime in between, you just might be a visionary.
Jonathan Cluts did it last week.
Leading a home-of-the-future tour, Microsoft Corp.'s director of consumer prototyping and strategy placed a food processor and a bag of flour on a kitchen counter.
"Would you like some assistance?" asked a disembodied voice with a heavy computer accent.
"Yes," Cluts replied.
With that, white text appeared on the dark countertop. Projected from the ceiling, the text listed options.
Picking one, Cluts commanded: "Recipes."
The text changed. More options. Various recipes. From olive bread to sugar cookies, each recipe used flour and a food processor - the two items sitting on the counter.
The counter knew.
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