Product Concept/Innovation: Video camera is incorporated inside microwave oven to provide high-definition view/monitoring/control of food being cooked/heated. Viewing screen and touch screen microwave are married to provide both internal HD viewing and microwave functional control. A third advantage is the real-time cooking video and remote microwave function control can be Bluetooth interfaced to smartphone users located away from the microwave oven.

Current Limitation: Microwave ovens generally incorporate a microwave energy containment screen behind glass viewing window that significantly reduces ability to view cooking progress.

Benefits: Provides high-definition view/monitoring of food being cooked/heated while maintaining safe distance from active microwave oven operations.

Novel improvement: Provides user with substantially improved/effective food cooking monitoring than established containment technology.

Market Potential: Over-the-top! This leap in "must have" kitchen technology is expected to corner the near-term microwave oven sales.

Cost of adding HD camera and video touch screen monitoring and control to existing baseline technology is expected to increase. However, increase in sales is expected to outweigh cost, especially since realizing this innovation would be based on existing/easily available hardware. The largest expense is anticipated to be an HD monitoring camera that provides reliability in the microwave oven's heat and radiation environment.

Preventing or reducing injuries: This technology is expected to prevent or reduce microwave exposure injuries. This technology is expected to eliminate the user's need to remain in close proximity to traditional viewing window in order to monitor the status of the cooking process--this assumes the traditional microwave oven is not fully containing its microwave radiation.