IBM Watson and Bon Apptit Team on New App at Transforms How We Cook

ARMONK, N.Y. - 30 Jun 2014: America's most technologically advanced sous chef is back. In collaboration with Bon App tit, IBM (NYSE: IBM), today is announcing an app called Chef Watson with Bon App tit. Initially available via a limited beta program, the new app, powered by IBM Watson technology and Bon App tit's culinary knowledge, allows home cooks to draw on Watson's advanced cognitive capabilities to create entirely new recipes and gastronomic combinations that have previously never been conceived.

At the Bon App tit (www.bonappetit.com) Kitchen in New York City, IBM Distinguished Engineer Steve Abrams (left) and Bon App tit Senior Food Editor Dawn Perry interact with Chef Watson with Bon App tit, a new culinary app for home cooks on Monday, June 30, 2014. The new app, powered by the cognitive computing technology behind IBMs Watson system which prevailed on Jeopardy! and Bon App tit's 9,000 recipes and culinary knowledge, allows home cooks to create entirely new recipes based on novel combinations of flavors and textures that have never been conceived. IBM is applying the same cognitive technology behind Chef Watson to reinvent how discoveries are made in other fields, including healthcare, financial services and retail. (Jon Simon/Feature Photo Service for IBM)

The new app is the next step in the evolution of Chef Watson, which was introduced by IBM and the Institute of Culinary Education (ICE) earlier this year at the SXSW conference in Austin, Texas. The demonstration brought together Watson's learning and natural language capabilities with top chefs to delight the palates of local attendees. IBM is now launching a beta version of an application built around this technology, tailored to the needs of avid home cooks. Learn more about Chef Watson here.

At Bon App tit, we were curious to see what Watson could discover that was never previously considered, helping unlock a chef's creativity, said Adam Rapoport, editor-in-chief, Bon App tit. We see the intersection of technology and food sparking new thinking and creativity not only in our own test kitchen, but in our reader's homes as well.

Chef Watson with Bon App tit allows an individual to go beyond the limitations of simple preparation to drive new creations and combinations of ingredients, based on scientific knowledge of cognitive technology. The original Jeopardy! winning Watson system was trained to understand large amount of information and quickly retrieve answers to all kinds of questions. Today, Watson is working to augment and scale expertise by serving as the ultimate assistant to professionals in industries including retail, healthcare and financial services. Chef Watson represents another example of the versatility of the technology and the diverse ways in which Watson will change our lives.

We're partnering with Bon App tit to put Watson initially into the hands of a small group of people who have a passion for cooking, a desire to experiment and who want to be a part of something ground breaking, said Mike Rhodin, Senior Vice President, IBM Watson Group. Our goal is to help people discover the potential of cognitive computing systems. These systems can understand vast amounts of data, compounds, and formulas as well as learn from interactions with people and information, in a far more intuitive way.

Chef Watson will initially be available to a select group of Bon App tit's readers, building on the success of Chef Watson in the Bon App tit Test Kitchen. Bon App tit readers can visit this sitefor the opportunity to become a beta-tester and read about the experiences of home cooks working with the app here.

To learn more about how Chef Watson was developed, visit: Smarter Planet Blog: Bon App tit Discovers Culinary Creativity with IBM Watson

To learn more about how Watson caught Bon App tit's eye, visit: Smarter Planet Blog: Bon App tit

About IBM

For more information on Chef Watson, please visit here.

To join the social discussion about Watson include the hashtag #ibmwatson

Follow Watson on Facebook: www.facebook.com/ibmwatson

Follow Watson on YouTube http://bit.ly/1lkJTpq

To view a Flickr image gallery with photos and screenshots please visit: http://bit.ly/1ouxDrD

Journalists and bloggers can download broadcast photo about the Watson and Bon App tit collaboration at ibm.biz/BdFdki.

LINK:	http://www-03.ibm.com/press/uk/en/pressrelease/44276.wss...
	See more stories from ibm

Most recent headlines