KitchenPC now supports hands-free recipe dictation using the Firesay browser plugin!

KitchenPC has partnered with Nuiti, makers of the popular Firesay web browser extension, to let you experience KitchenPC in a whole new way! Do you frequently use your laptop while in the kitchen to follow recipes? Perhaps you already have a computer set up in the kitchen for this very purpose! However, many of us find it frustrating to actually use a computer while also dealing with the messy hands and multitasking required while cooking. KitchenPC has introduced a solution, allowing full access to step-by-step cooking instructions simply using your voice. Read more about this amazing new experience below!

Frequently Asked Questions:

Q: What is Firesay?

Firesay is a browser extension that allows websites to enrich their user experience by providing voice activated functionality and text-to-speech feedback.

Q: Is Firesay free?

Of course! Both Firesay and KitchenPC's Firesay enabled features are completely free.

Q: What do I need to use Firesay?

Right now, Firesay works on Vista and Windows 7 using the Google Chrome web browser.

Q: How do I install Firesay so I can use these new KitchenPC features?

Click Here!

Q: Once I have Firesay installed, now what?

Once Firesay is configured to use your computer's microphone, you can load any recipe on KitchenPC and simply say "Browser, Start Cooking" to launch the interactive cooking mode.

Q: How does the interactive cooking mode work?

In this mode, recipes are displayed using the full screen and designed to provide a comfortable experience from anywhere in the kitchen. Fonts are big and only the information you need is displayed. Each step is automatically read aloud. You can say "Browser, Next Step" when you're done with the current cooking step. If you need to repeat a step, just say "Browser, Repeat Step." The current cooking step is always displayed on the screen in a large font as well so you can quickly glance at it while chopping tomatoes. After the last cooking step, KitchenPC will return back to the normal recipe view.

Q: Can I use Firesay from anywhere in the kitchen, or do I have to speak directly into the mic?

Though this depends on the quality of the microphone, Firesay was designed to filter out background noise and work well from anywhere in the room. Please keep in mind noisy environments will degrade speech recognition performance so your results may vary. Also, it helps quite a bit to "train" Firesay by going into the Firesay options and clicking "Speech Recognition Training."

Q: How does KitchenPC break down recipes into steps?

A cooking step is delimited by any line break, such as a new paragraph, bullet point item, or ordered list item. For this reason, it's important to organize your recipes into distinct steps when adding new recipes to KitchenPC. We'll keep an eye on things as well to make sure our recipes work well when read aloud, but since this is a new feature it might take some time to get everything perfect. You can always use the "Flag Recipe" feature to let us know if there's a problem with any recipe on the site.

Q: Will you support other browsers?

Firesay support is planned for other Windows browsers. Keep an eye on the Firesay website for more information.

Q: Are other KitchenPC features supported using voice commands?

Not yet, but if you have any ideas please let us know! We're investigating the possibility of allowing chefs to easily work with multiple recipes at the same time using voice commands.

Q: Any other tips on using this feature?

We like using the browser in full screen mode for the full experience. To do this, press F11. You can exit full screen mode by pressing F11 again.