In a valiant effort to rethink the ubiquitous refrigerator — which has seen few design changes since the invention of freon refrigerators in the 1930′s — Russian designer Yuriy Dmitriev has unveiled a fresh-looking, gel-filled appliance of the future. His Bio Robot Refrigerator utilizes a special gel-like substance that suspends and cools food once inserted. Dmitriev’s design is one of 25 finalists in the Electrolux Design Lab competition, which challenged entrants with the task of redesigning modern appliances for the future.
The Bio Robot Refrigerator mounts on a wall — Dmitriev points out it can be mounted horizontally, vertically or even on the ceiling. The fridge does not have a motor or other traditional technology like most refrigerators, — the gel does all the work — so, 90% of the appliance is actual usable space. To use the fridge you basically shove food into it’s biopolymer gel — which has no odor and is not sticky — and it is suspended and cooled until you need it again.
Dmitriev notes that the cooling agents are the “bio robots” inherent in the gel that use luminescence — light generated in cold temperatures — to preserve food. Although this sounds super techy and fun, Dmitriev doesn’t really explain how it’s going to work, so we’re a little skeptical of the Bio Robot Refrigerator becoming a reality someday. Viability aside, the fridge is definitely a huge step forward in terms of rethinking the design of one of our most-used appliances. Probably the best thing about this concept machine is that it uses zero energy for cooling — it just needs energy for it’s little control pad. Compared to the typical modern fridge, which uses about 8% of a household’s energy, this nifty-looking gadget of the future could cut our energy use significantly.
+ Electrolux Design Lab finalists
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Ewwww. I do not want to put my hand it that! Can you imagine taking out that fish? I’m frosty on the whole idea.
Where does all the displaced gel go when the fridge is “full”?
Gross!
Most of you are naive believers. The reason this isn’t on the market is because it needs magic to work. This supposed gel defies a few laws of thermodynamics. Keeping it’s shape against gravity will take energy, cooling will take energy, creating bubbles will take energy.
How is it supposed to exchange heat with the objects, but not with the outside air?
This is neither an invention nor innovation nor sustainable nor zero-energy. This is just a guy drawing some nice artwork.
I THINK SOMEONES ON THE RIGHT TRACK,JUST WILL TAKE TIME TO FIX ALL THE BUGS…
I just got a chillow and it’s great. I think they do make a large full body version.
several questions:
what keeps it in the frame?
how do you clean it?
where does the heat go?
seriously? where does the heat go?
how do you regulate the tempurature?
and totally off topic, anyone remember the chillow? self cooling 1 inch pillow pad? i was waiting for prices to come down and buy one but they disappeared. I was thinking if they made a whole mattress sized chillow, poor people(me) could sleep on it on hot summer nights and not use air conditioning or even fans. never understood how it worked as i never bought one.
I’m not eating anything that’s been stuck in some gel that’s also open to the surrounding atmosphere. How do you clean the gel? Sometimes a thing doesn’t need to be made better if it works as it is. “Don’t fix it if it ain’t broke.”
I’m pretty sure it’s just a “concept”, it’s hard to tell, but I doubt highly that it works. If this gel were real, I’m sure we’d be seeing it reported all over the place. The the uses for this are sweeping.
If we really wanted to conserve energy from our fridges we’d put some insulation around that box. As any boater who has cruised on their vessel with an icebox, you can keep a block of ice cold for a couple weeks with only 4″ of good insulation. Having 1-2″ of crappy fiberglass insulation is a huge waste.
If we all had built in fridges with 4+” insulation (including the doors), with the motor and condenser outside or at least isolated from the inside temps you could reduce cooling costs in the summer as well (not that with 4″ of insulation that it would have to run very much to stay cold.
All that said, nice “idea”, but lots of issues as many have said before me.
Uh… What if hair and crap gets in? Would you be able to clean it? Or is it FUBAR and have to replace the gel
someone should tell this Yuriy Dmitriev to go on kickstarter and start a project
How would you clean it?
I really need this!! please get this out soon!
Weird science on steroids. No practicality involved. Only getting the prize was kept in mind through the design process.
Cool concept. I’m just wondering how you’ll clean it from: Smell and traces of fish, blood, rotten produce, sour milk, moldy cheese, et al.?
If the jell moves what prevents it from falling out?
I don’t like the space wasting design either, or trust that it can keep FDA approved temperatures.
Seems like a gimmick for the elite rich.
Great, but still a design. I’ve seen so many great designs that we never can buy.
The gel fridge idea is cool. But how would you keep it from getting dirty with hand and food particles? I bet after a month that green goo would be almost black.
that was sooooooooo cool!!! i wonder what that gel-y stuff feels like! can you put cake in there?
dat is awesome!!!(:(: hay does anyone know da price! cuz i m 1 rich fucker!!!!
CAN’T wait to my Hand in that lol =)
It may use negative luminescence which is a phenomena happening in some kind of semiconductors: http://www.springerlink.com/content/540453h5h5x08706/
http://mirdog.spb.ru/Negative_luminescence.htm
http://www.freepatentsonline.com/7473896.html
Is the technology so mature that it could already reach the house appliance market? I am not so sure, but it’s a great idea if the gel is safe enough.
You can cool with radiation provided the wavelength matches what you are trying to cool. Alburton.
This is really exciting. Even if it never makes it to market, it shows that people are putting their time & effort into finding new conscious solutions for all of the outdated technologies that strangle our planet. Great article.
Best,
Ryan Taft
http://www.zecozi.com
i bet this guy is on mushrooms.
¿? A gel that constantly freezes through radiating light??
Doesnt seem probable at all,as radiation is a form of heat transfer,and heat ALWAYS goes from the hotter to the cooler…
Which reminds me…nice way of making ice:
Put a closed,thermally protected “bin” with a “window” facing the starry night. If only radiation goes through this window it will exchange heat with the atmosphere and cool to subzero temperatures!
Thats the way I heard they used to do it back then…never tried it though ,but it makes sense,unlike this thermodynamicall rebel of a gel
I seriously want one…. NOW. why can’t we just make this now?