Half a croissant, on a plate, with a sign in front of it saying '50c'
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Microwave Vision

Thermal Camera Window
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Put a little camera inside the microwave that detects infrared wavelengths only.

Have the camera send its signal to a little LCD screen that's mounted on the front of the microwave.

That way, you can get a cool view of how hot your food's getting, in real-time.

If integrated into the microwave design, it may only be a few hundred dollars more expensive than a regular microwave, which would fit nicely into the usual plans for $10-$20,000 kitchen remodels. (That should impress the guests more than that boring old stainless steel dishwasher which cost $200 more than standard.)

It doesn't need to be very high-res and you could have a "record" feature for "research" purposes (like the twinky-in-the-microwave experiment)

sophocles, Mar 25 2005

Oven Cam Oven_20Cam
Prior Art [csea, Mar 25 2005]

Thermometer Gun http://shop.store.y...niverse/te-261.html
Complete with babe, it would appear. [DrCurry, Mar 25 2005]

Microwave images http://imagers.gsfc....gov/ems/micro.html
[hippo, Mar 25 2005]

Infrared Images http://www.google.c...en%26lr%3D%26sa%3DG
[DrCurry, Mar 25 2005]

[link]






       Pretty similar to "Oven Cam", [link] with annotations incorporated.   

       I'm surprised not to have seen this baked, yet.
csea, Mar 25 2005
  

       While you can generally tell the temperature of things by looking at them (in the infrared), you going to get incorrect results in a microwave.   

       Unlike regular ovens, which heat food from the outside in, microwave ovens cook food on the inside. The surface temperature (which is what you will "see"), may well be quite different from the inside temperature.
DrCurry, Mar 25 2005
  

       But microwaves have wavelengths which are several centimeters long. Therefore the resolution of any image you get from a microwave 'camera' will be extremely poor compared to visible light or IR.
Microwaves are use for imaging objects, but only very, very big objects, like regions of the Earth or the entire universe (see link).
hippo, Mar 25 2005
  

       hippo: sophocles specifically says an infrared camera, not a microwave one and, as we know from Weegee and others, those work really rather well.
DrCurry, Mar 25 2005
  

       csea: You're right. I didn't see that one. Your anno is right on with this idea, and I'll gladly credit you on this one as having thought of it first.   

       But I think this one deserves to graduate from anno to idea, so I'll leave it here rather than delete it for having prior art as an anno on the HB.   

       Dr Curry: Thanks. Yes. But you would still see hotness on the outside too. And the outside hotness should roughly correlate to the inside. We're talking "consumer extravagance/toy" rather than a scientific measurement.   

       The key here is that you get to see a red/orange/blue "plasma" looking display as your food is circling and heating. Entrancing like a lava lamp.
sophocles, Mar 25 2005
  
      
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