Amazon Skills Kitchen

Amazon Skills Kitchen has three parts.

A revamped mobile application for Whole Foods which integrates new search and discovery tools, integrates personalized recommendations, and allows for recipes and skills to be found and taught.

A modular and Alexa integrated physical station that is pre-set for each experience with the desired space, tools, and most importantly ingredients needed for whatever you are cooking.

The revamped flagship store centers around the Amazon Skills Kitchen to foster a community space in your local Whole Foods to allow anyone to explore the world through food.

This redesigned app streamlines the experience from the current by presenting 4 main pages to explore.Home, Experiences, Search, and List.

This app boasts two new search tools to enhance the user experience.
By using Camera Search a user can point at anything around them whether in-store or out to use Amazon’s camera searching abilities for detecting specific brands and products from barcodes or appearance or for searching general items across Whole Foods or Amazon.
By using voice search, a user can start speaking and Amazon’s Alexa will listen to commands in addition to finding specific items across Whole Foods or Amazon.

Once an item or query is detected, in both views, previews of suggested items will begin to appear in addition to a “Suggested Experiences” pop up.

A user can tap and drag any of the recommended items to add it to their list for later, their cart for pick up or delivery, or to the ”Suggested Experiences” tray at the bottom of the screen.

By collecting items in this tray, recommended recipes and experiences will populate. This feature allows users to shop more intelligently by reducing waste by purchasing meals and not just ingredients and be inspired by ingredients around them.

In addition to going directly to an experience through search, a user can tap directly into an item find more information about it and see recommendations for recipes and experiences based solely upon that ingredient or utensil.

Another way of finding experiences is also by going directly to the ”Experiences” tab. There one can sort by list and category as well as by date in order to find experiences at a specific date and time.
These experiences cover a wide range of things including celebrity chef’s recipes, local chef’s recipes, basic cooking skills, and more special interest categories for those looking to lose weight, go vegan, or learn more about a specific utensil or appliance to name just a few.

Tapping into a specific experience will allow a user to see more details in addition to all the ingredients and equipment needed with the option to purchase or rent those for use at home (either by pickup or delivery) or to schedule an experience in store at the Amazon Skills Kitchen.

And by scrolling down, a user can see the price of all the ingredients for an experience in addition to recommendations for accompaniments to the selected experience like wine pairings, movies or shows from Amazon Prime Video, or music that can be streamed on Amazon Music.

When a user decides to schedule an experience in the Amazon Skills Kitchen, they are first asked to enter the number of participants and the number of servings of the dish in question.

The app will intelligently recommend a station layout based upon the experience selected as well as the provided information, and the user can edit the layout to add modules or remove them to their preference.

Then once everything is set, the user can pay directly on their phone to begin their experience.

Shortly before the experience is set to begin, a Whole Foods employee will arrange the modules in the desired configuration as specified by the user.

This can be very basic when only one person is cooking and wants a small, immersive experience.

But the stations can grow for more participants.

And for those wanting more open concepts for separate experiences and communal eating.

Or for more structured setups as mandated by a live, instructor led class.

Or during rush times where many individuals are wanting to cook at the same time.

Or a mix of all types of setups depending on the day and demand.

When a user arrives at a participating Whole Foods close to their scheduled experience time, they will be directed inside using AR to their personal station.

When the user arrives, the station senses their phone drawing nearer and will light up with their name and the scheduled experience information.

Stepping inside, a user just has to present their QR code which will automatically pop up while in the station to confirm their identity.

The user is then able to cook using the provided equipment located in the cabinet modules and the ingredients in the fridge modules.

Cameras and sensors observe to ensure safety, and to improve technique and offer suggestions for an optimal learning experience.

Alexa can also be triggered at any point to complete tasks.

Eye tracking allows instructional videos, pictures, and text to follow the user across different modules as needed so the user never loses their place.

Full bleed screens wrapping around the whole station can also bring immersive visuals to the experience allowing users to experience the culture and scenery of the origin region of the dish or skill.
Coupled with interactive audio, this programming is designed to enrich the experience far outside of what can be experienced in the home.

If anything is needed at any point, a user can request ingredients, utensils, appliances, or just general help from an employee.
The fridge and cabinet modules can be opened both from the inside as well as the outside as to not disrupt the user’s immersive experience.

Once the cooking is completed, the participants can sit down and eat together, accompanied by recommended drinks by the glass and programming from Amazon Video and Music all while bonding and sharing great conversation.

To prevent food waste, compostable packaging is provided upon request with information about the food inside as well as a QR code so you can find the experience easily when you are back at home or to share with others.

Trash, compost, and recycling can be disposed of in the sink unit at any time during the experience and Alexa and on-screen guidance will instruct where each item should go to ensure proper waste management.

Dishes can also be washed in the sink after the users are done, or an employee can handle the mess for a small additional charge.

The sink unit itself is also employee operable from the outside where they can remove the trash, compost, or recycling containers for proper disposal and cycle the clean and gray water tanks that operate the sink after each experience or mid way if lots of water is used.

Overall, the Amazon Skills Kitchen experience is an engaging learning community where anyone can experience quality ingredients and cultural immersion all while meeting new people along the way.

After an experience is completed, the user has options to purchase more ingredients to re-experience the recipe at home, schedule another experience in the store, or post photos and videos and rate their experience.

And an AI edited video can be accessed at any time for a user to relive their experience and share with friends and family on social media.

And beyond the kitchen, there are plans to expand the “Amazon Skills” service to other areas of life such as Amazon Skills Auto for learning about car maintenance and upgrades, Amazon Skills Fitness for all levels to enhance their health through in-person or remote workouts, and Amazon Skills Craft to learn other skills such as sewing, furniture making, and more.