The Smart Food Recycler
The condition of our planet has not been the most encouraging thing we hear nowadays. As consumers of this planet, it is our duty to try our very best to give back what we take. Small things like using reusable bags at grocery stores seem small right now but could be enormous as time goes on if everyone does it. Now in the age of exponential growth in technology, we are graced with seeing innovations that could really help our global consumption problems. That’s when we bring in the product of the hour, the Vitamix FoodCycler FC-50 — Smart Food Recycler.
The Vitamix FoodCycler is a new addition to the smart kitchen appliance family. This cubic foot machine allows households to turn food waste into compost within hours. As opposed to the traditional methods, this device replaces waiting 2–3 weeks by either digging a trench or purchasing worm bins. This toaster oven-sized machine dries and grinds the food waste into a “Foodilizer”. Foodilizer is not your typical compost due to the heat used in the process of making it. Typical compost has many bacterias and other qualities that allow for optimal conditions for plants, Foodilizer requires one to four weeks of rest, mixed with regular soil, to gain those qualities back. From there you can add your new compost to your plants. Some notable features when it comes to this smart device would be the carbon filter top. This feature eliminates the odor that could possibly escape from the food, making it convenient for indoor use. Another would be the quiet cycles, during the transformation households would not be interrupted by the sounds of food composting.
This simple eco-friendly solution seems like a dream come true, surely there have to be some negatives about it. So let’s observe its true eco-friendliness by looking at its energy usage. According to the company’s website, the smart composter typically takes around four to eight hours for one cycle. However, that’s something to not complain about compared to the secondary options there are other things to bring to consideration; the energy consumption of this device. If the carbon emissions increase to create this compost would it not defeat the purpose of this smart device. With some research, I found an unbiased report on its energy consumption and looked to see if this device is indeed worth the money and the praise.
First I’ll calculate per household how much energy is being consumed per cycle. The Vitamax Food Cycler uses around 0.8kWh per cycle (compared to for example a microwave being used for 15 minutes on average is 0.3kWh). The average American household consumes around 877–893kWh per month, so taking into account the composter it would be ~0.36% of the household energy consumption. Looking at the numbers the consumption does not seem to significantly affect how much energy is being used. Now taking into account the other option which is sending the food waste to landfills that would produce large amounts of methane and carbon dioxide. This smart device does truly live up to its brand.
Unfortunately, other circumstances need to be considered to see if this product is truly worth it, including the cost. At the time of writing this, this product goes for $399.95, which would put this product in the luxury category of kitchen appliances. This smart device is a product worth looking at if the price fits your range, but I believe this product is more of a luxury than it is a necessity. The Vitamix Food Cycler is an improvement to the traditional methods of creating compost, allowing for shorter wait times and more convenience. But to deem this device as something every household needs would require a lot of changes. I would imagine the pricing of this product takes into account a lot of circumstances from the company’s point of view, but hopefully, future iterations of this product would take into account accessibility alongside sustainability.
Other than that, as a smart device, some criteria need to be met to truly calm such a title. This next evaluation will look at the usability of this system and see how well designed its interactions are. As a rule of thumb, I will be using heuristics created by Julie A. Kientz, Eun Kyoung Choe, Brennen Birch, Robert Maharaj, Amanda Fonville, and Chelsey Glasson, and Jen Mundt in their research titled “Heuristic Evaluation of Persuasive Health Technologies”. In this paper, they have 10 points that they use to evaluate their systems, in this case, I will be using the Vitamix FoodCycler in place of theirs. The 10 points are:
- Appropriate Functionality: The system/technology should be able to meet all mobility, usability, visibility, and durability needs according to the needs of the people; easy to use for the user during their daily routine.
- Not Irritating or Embarrassing: The system should make the user feel irritated or embarrassed, they should be able to use it every day without the worry of irritation or embarrassment.
- Protect Users’ Privacy: Any private information used by the system should be safe and secure. The user should not have to worry about their information being vulnerable. Also the ability to allow the user to do what they chose with the information
- Use of Positive Motivation Strategies: The use of positive reinforcement when the system has recognized that the user has reached the goal they have set. Encourages the user to progress through set goals without the use of negative reinforcement.
- Usable and Aesthetically Appealing Design: The system is attractive to the user’s eyes and makes them want to use the system. While it should be visually attractive it should compromise its usability.
- Accuracy of Information: When the system provides information to the user, make sure it does not give out inaccurate information. If information is to be given, allow the user the ability to modify the information for more accuracy.
- Appropriate Time and Place: Any information that the system provides should be presented when and where it is needed.
- Visibility of User’s Status: Whatever goal is trying to be reached, make sure the system allows the user to view the status of said goal-setting, within a reasonable period
- Customizability: The user should be able to customize aspects of the system or product. Whether that be the goal or settings within the system.
- Educate Users: The product should allow users to feel engaged and, by positive reinforcement, continue to learn and reach intended goals.
To keep things concise and in order, I will be grouping some in this way: 1–5 and 6–10. For the first section, the Vitamix FoodCycler does meet the first two requirements of “Appropriate Functionality” & “Not Irritating or Embarrassing”. On the company’s website, they emphasize the easy-to-use design of the FoodCycler. With the functions being pretty straightforward, users only have to fill the composter with the appropriate food waste and start the process. For the next two requirements, “Protect Users’ Privacy” & “Use of Positive Motivation Strategies”, it is hard to apply these criteria since a lot of it does not apply to the functionality of the Vitamix. Information is not required to use this device, maybe in future interactions of this system, there will be an app that tracks the usage and other critical data. As for positive motivation strategies, there are not many functionalities that incorporate the idea of positive reinforcements for the users. Aside from notifying the user when the cycle is complete. Lastly for this section, the fifth requirement states “Usable and Aesthetically Appealing Design”. This point sort of tying in with the appropriate functionalities requirement, the Vitamix FoodCycler has a modern sleek look to it. Incorporating the trend of minimalism, the device, while straightforward, has a nice clean look that would attract many people in this era. With the looks, it still manages to keep up with the functionalities, with no compromises aside from the smaller dimensions (but the intention was for a more portable/home-friendly design).
On to the next section, requirements 6–10. For requirements 6–8, “Accuracy of Information”, “Appropriate Time and Place”, & “Visibility of User’s Status”, I believe that this device does meet these requirements. When the intended goal has been reached, in this case, the cycle has been finished, the device notifies the user. While the cycle is still going, there are labeled lights on the top of the device that indicate which part of the cycle it is currently in. This checks off all the requirements of accurate and appropriate visibility of information. “Customizability” & “Educate Users” were kind of tricky to pinpoint, due to this iterations functionality. There is not much to customize with this device since there is one locked setting. As for educating the user, the entire purpose of the device is to educate the user on how to create a more sustainable way of living. Although the concept of composting can be quite intimidating, the Vitamix makes it easier and stress-free to be eco-friendly. It also promotes the idea of creating a green area for the users, whether that be to create a garden or a simple potting.
Overall, the Vitamix FoodCycler FC-50 is an amazing take on the concept of sustainability. This smart device promotes and educates the user while also being easy to use and stress-free. Although its consumption and user-friendliness are spots on, the price of the device makes it less economically accessible to the general public. Putting it to the test of heuristics created by professionals showed us that it is almost to its smart device potential. As time goes on and the designers continue to create more iterations of this device, I hope they take into account some of the key points I and others laid out. I look forward to the future of technology and sustainability and how we can all make a difference.
References
https://www.honestlymodern.com/an-unpaid-review-of-the-foodcycler/
https://terpconnect.umd.edu/~choe/download/IHI-10-Kientz.pdf
