Virtual Reality Cooking

VR Headsets

The latest tech trend right now is VR head gear and its many potential applications. This virtual reality headset provides the user with an immersive VR environment through sight and sound. These units are meant to be wireless and convey a sense of freedom upon wearing it. Though the technical specifications differ, at the moment they offer a stereoscopic head mounted display with provides a separate image for each eye. Stereo sound is provided with onboard speakers and head motion tracking sensors could include gyroscopes, accelerometers and eye tracking. Additional peripherals such as wireless motion or gaming controllers may be used simultaneously to interact with the virtual environment. Companies who are on the cutting edge see vast potential for such technology are jumping on this virtual bandwagon and trying to secure a portion of the pie so to speak.

This emerging technology is already being used in virtual medical and flight training. So why not have this technology advance the culinary kitchen and provide virtual simulations? If students and instructors had such equipment then culinary training could reach new heights. Certain cooking procedures and methods such as caramelizing sugars could be done safely without the harmful risk of a third-degree molten sugar burn.

360 degrees VR Videos:

One New York chef recently had an audience when merging food with virtual reality. He had his guests don on Samsung’s VR headset and demonstrated classical French dishes from start to finish. The virtual video showcased the preparation from the kitchen to completed meals on the table. It gave the viewers a feeling of being right there alongside this Michelin-starred chef as they watched each and every ingredient being expertly prepared.

I imagine taking this concept and bringing it to e-learning classes and online culinary distance education. Where a group of chefs could carefully craft a collection of videos to demonstrate hard to master techniques.  The benefit is that the learner can replay the VR videos as many times as possible until s/he understands the lesson. It could supplement the cooking program if nothing else.

A limitation I can foresee would be the limited availability of software to be coherent with the culinary curriculum. The cost of setup and maintenance would be a huge burden on the culinary institute’s budget. Also VR headsets only provide sights and sounds of simulated virtual cooking. You cannot smell or taste or feel the temperatures or textures of different foods and cooking methods.