#IFAGPC19 – There was a lot of cooking related devices showcased at IFA GPC 19 and Safera Sense was one of the most interesting ones. Safera is a Finnish company that specializes in the prevention of cooking fires, it manufactures stove guards since 2007, and all its stove guards are EN 50615 certified, a requirement in Norway today, and will become a global standard soon.
Safera came to IFA GPC 19 with a new consumer-grade smart cooking sensor, the Sense (149 Euros). The sensor is placed above the stove and recognizes different cooking events and sets timers automatically. For example, it lets you know when the water is boiling.
In case you forget the pan for too long on the stove, Sense detects the danger and trigger a sound alarm on the device and your smartphone.
If you buy the optional smart plug called Power Control Unit (also 149 Euros), Sense can shut down the power of the electric stove to stop the heating.
Safera points out that there’s an array of 20 sensors inside the device and a processor is in charge of continually analyzing the data to monitor possible events. It can even sense human activity around the stove.
According to CEO Erkka Suvikumpu, cooking equipment is the leading cause of home fires, so the Sense is definitively a must-have for electric cooktops.
In addition to its fire prevention features, Sense monitors the air quality and lets you know when it is time to ventilate (technically, cooking reduces air quality with fine particles). According to Safera, the three most common things people forget while cooking are: setting a timer, turning the cooker hood on and watching over a hot stove.
Safera’s marketing manager Joonas Kyllönen showed me a demo of how Sense prevents the stove from overheating when a pan is forgotten there. It showed how simple and straightforward the usage model is.
The Safera Sense is a smart device and users can download the accompanying smartphone application when it launches. Sense also communicates and works with digital-assistant such as Amazon’s Alexa or Google Home. It is compatible with Apple’s HomeKit as well.
With this connectivity, you can access and monitor the stove’s usage when away from home: great if there are kids or older adults in the house.
However, Sense isn’t just a security device: it can also assist your cooking since it knows what the exact temperature of the pan is, so you can start your steak or omelet when the temperature is ideal.
The Safera Sense will launch during the upcoming IFA 2019 tradeshow in Berlin, and Ubergizmo will be there. The units demonstrated here are pre-production units, that could change slightly until then.