LAS VEGAS, Jan. 10 (UPI) -- A future can of soup could be heated just by placing it on a counter, a creative Michigan firm revealed at the Consumer Electronics Show this week.
Fulton Innovation, the company that produces inductive power systems, such as counters that heat pots and pans while still allowing someone to rest a hand on the "burner," unveiled "inductive ink" at the Las Vegas show, The New York Times reported Monday.
Using an inductive system would allow someone to place a can of food with inductive ink, say baked beans, and cook the beans by simply placing the can on an inductive counter top, even though how it is being cooked is invisible, the newspaper said.
The same ink could be used to have labeling on packages placed on a shelf -- a shelf outfitted with an inductive coil -- light up, as if the wrapping included neon lights.
Finding investors for the clever inventions is another story, the Times said.
The system, already used for cooking surfaces, is the same system that allows batteries to absorb a charge when placed on a pad, allowing the user to bypass having to plug in any wires.
Take that one step further, as the future-thinking firm has done, and a consumer can place a kitchen appliance on a counter top, not plug it in, but still get it to work, the Times reported.
