A concept table and cooking surface designed for IKEA could revolutionize the way people prepare meals, and possibly help reduce waste in the process. The Table for Living has a camera and projector above and induction coils beneath the surface that are networked together to identify objects and project a display.

To use, homeowners can place leftovers and other ingredients on the surface and set the timer for the prep time they have available; the table will then suggest applicable recipes. Once a meal is chosen, it can be prepared right on the surface—the induction coils heat only the insides of pans, so the rest of the table can also be used for working and eating.

The table was conceived as part of Concept Kitchen 2025, a special program where IKEA invited about 50 students from the Ingvar Kamprad Design Centre at Lund University in Sweden and the Eindhoven University of Technology in the Netherlands to envision what life in the kitchen and food will look like in ten years. Led by design and consulting firm IDEO, the students developed the table along with other innovations, such as the Thoughtful Disposal System, which requires recyclables to be sorted from trash before being crushed, vacuum-packed, and labeled for pickup. The projects are currently on display at IKEA Temporary in Milan.

IKEA Temporary, Via Vigevano 18, Milano; conceptkitchen2025om

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