Verity Healthcare

I’m Travis Rea from Brava.

And that is Zac from Brava. That is your Assistive Expertise Replace.

Hey, and welcome to your Assistive Expertise Replace. A weekly dose of data that retains you updated on the newest developments within the discipline of expertise designed to help people with disabilities and particular wants. I’m your host Josh Anderson with the INDATA Challenge at Easter Seals Crossroads in lovely Indianapolis, Indiana. Welcome to episode 719 of Assistive Expertise Replace. It’s scheduled to be launched on March seventh, 2025.

On at this time’s present we’re excited to welcome Travis Rea and Zac Selmon. They’re from Brava, and right here to inform us in regards to the superb Brava Oven and all the good instruments it has that may assist people with disabilities with cooking independently. Listeners, as all the time, we wish to thanks for listening to the present. Don’t overlook, you may all the time attain out to us. Ship us an electronic mail at tech@eastersealscrossroads.org. Or name our listener line at 317-721-7124.

We’d additionally prefer to ship an enormous shout-out to InTRAC. A transcript of at this time’s present is on the market at eastersealstech.com. These are generously sponsored by InTRAC. You’ll find out extra about indianarelay.com. Additionally, an enormous due to our groups that participated in our final two episodes for the ATIA rundown and look again episodes. You’ll discover numerous the actually cool issues that we discovered at ATIA, you’ll begin listening to in numerous these episodes, together with at this time’s company from Brava. Now let’s go forward and get on with the present.

Listeners, we’re tremendous excited that subsequent week, on March thirteenth, 2025, might be our first full-day coaching right here at INDATA for this yr. It’s assistive expertise and mind damage. We’re tremendous excited to welcome Wendy Waldman, NeuroResource facilitator and medical analysis coordinator on the Division of Bodily Medication and Rehabilitation from Indiana College College of Medication, in addition to Amy Miller, director of Mind Harm Companies right here at Easter Seals Crossroads. And naturally, the parents from our medical AT workers as they current on acquired mind damage, managing this continual situation, cognitive rehabilitation at Easter Seals Crossroads, built-in remedy for mind damage. And naturally, assistive expertise that may assist people handle a number of the challenges which are related to a mind damage.

When you’ve by no means attended certainly one of our full-day coaching, why? No, I’m simply kidding. However when you’ve by no means attended certainly one of our full-day trainings, these go from normally 9:00 AM to three:00 PM Japanese time. And you’ll come right here to Easter Seals Crossroads in Indianapolis, Indiana and attend in-person when you like. Or, you can too attend on-line through Zoom. CEUs can be found from the AAC Institute for this coaching, however you do should register with a purpose to attend. When you’re trying to register, I’ll put a hyperlink down within the present notes. You too can go to eastersealstech.com, go to our full-day trainings, and register there as properly. When you’d prefer to attend our assistive expertise and mind damage full-day coaching, please register on-line and the hyperlink is down within the present notes.

Listeners, at this time we’re kicking off the month of March speaking about cooking, which is certainly one of my favourite issues. Largely as a result of it results in consuming, which might be my favourite factor. However at this time, we’re joined by Travis and Zac. They’re right here to inform us all in regards to the Brava Oven. We’re so excited to study all about it.

Gents, welcome to the present.

Yeah, I’m excited to get into speaking about cooking, about Brava, about all the good issues it could actually do. However earlier than we do this, might you inform our listeners a bit bit about yourselves?

Yeah. My title is Travis Rea. I head up gross sales and advertising for Brava.

I’m Zac Selmon. I’m the pinnacle of product at Brava.

Superior, guys. Onto Brava. I assume let’s simply begin with the place did the concept for the Brava Oven come from?

Properly, the Brava Oven, the unique thought really got here from our founder, certainly one of our founder’s mothers. She was actually busy cooking Thanksgiving dinner, and I believe all people can relate to this. The stress of attempting to get the whole lot accomplished on the similar time and have the whole lot be sizzling, and it’s numerous coordination particularly once you’re doing a number of dishes. One in every of our co-founders Dan is a software program entrepreneur. His mother mentioned, “Hey, Dan, you’re a reasonably good man. I’d actually such as you to consider making a cooking robotic that will know when the whole lot’s accomplished and shuts off mechanically.” That was the unique thought in his head.

Our different co-founder Thomas was a {hardware} entrepreneur. They had been mates from highschool. They’d lunch in the future, and so they had each been engaged on separate tasks and had been simply catching up. Dan advised Thomas about his thought. Thomas had been engaged on the heater expertise utilizing lamps, and we’ll get into that with Brava in only a minute. Dan had mentioned, “Hey, do you suppose you may make that greater?” That was the inception of the corporate proper then. They retrofitted a toaster oven with a very high-powered lamp. They had been in a position to sear steaks in file time and that was their actual proof of idea.

That was again in, gosh, 2016.

Wow. I like it. Yeah, Thanksgiving dinner, positively I can see how that may do it. I’m not allowed to try this anymore as a result of I get imply within the kitchen, as a result of yeah, it’s so exhausting to get the whole lot to coordinate.

You mentioned it really is ready to cook dinner with mild. Are you able to inform me how that works?

Yeah, completely. It helps to know a conventional oven first. Conventional ovens use both heater coils or gasoline to warmth up. What they’re doing is heating the air temperature and charging the chamber partitions with radiant warmth which is used to cook dinner the meals. The issue is that they’re actually sluggish to warmth up and so they’re actually sluggish to chill down, although they’re actually good at holding the radiant warmth.

With Brava, we do issues very otherwise. Brava cooks with mild. We use precise halogen lamps that had been initially designed for the photo voltaic business to afage silicon wafers to photo voltaic panels. The actually distinctive factor about these lamps is that they go from ambient to full energy in lower than one second. They shut off simply as shortly. Not like a heater coil that takes time to warmth up, we have now on the spot full energy. At full energy, we have now the identical power supply as a 900-degree wood-fired pizza oven.

Brava doesn’t require preheat for many issues. The opposite distinctive issues that the lamp provides us are searing energy. Brava can really sear steaks. It’s actually cool as a result of it could actually exchange the issues like a variety or a range high like a traditional oven by no means would be capable of.

The final cool factor earlier than I flip it over to Zac to let you know a bit bit extra about the way it works is that Brava is ready to cook dinner three totally different substances on the similar time with completely totally different ranges of doneness. We name that multi-zone cooking. We’re the one gadget that I do know on this planet that has a single chamber however three unbiased cooking zones. Zac can let you know a bit bit extra about how that truly works.

Yeah. What’s cool about cooking with mild, it’s largely infrared warmth. However what we are able to do is, once you see the way in which that the oven is about up, there’s three lamps alongside the highest and three on the underside. Now we have these metallic reflectors surrounding the lamps. What it does is it focuses all the power instantly into the meals as a substitute of into the chamber partitions and in all instructions. It’s actually like cooking with a highlight or a magnifying glass. That safely provides us entry to this a lot greater stage of cooking energy, near a 900-degree pizza oven.

Once we discuss cooking within the three totally different zones relative to the three totally different pairs of lamps, it’s not really cooking in every zone at a set temperature for a set period of time. It’s extra like cooking with a blowtorch that you just’re turning on and off, and pulsing it with warmth.

It’s in a position to cook dinner like a cooking robotic like they had been attempting to construct. It may approximate how a chef would work together with one thing. That is additionally how we cook dinner issues actually quick.

If you concentrate on when you have a 900-degree pizza oven and you set an entire tray of broccoli in it, it’ll burn on the surface earlier than it cooks right through. That’s as a result of, because the floor temperature of the meals rises, the quantity of power that it could actually settle for adjustments because it begins to warmth into the middle of the meals. The best way that folks deal with that, like a chef handles it, when you see any person cooking on a wok for instance, you see them continuously stirring it, and taking it on and off of the flame. What they’re doing there’s they’re manually adjusting the quantity of warmth that’s being utilized to the floor of the meals to actually management the floor temperature, to maintain it slightly below the purpose the place it begins to burn. That’s how they’ll cook dinner so quick. As a result of we are able to flip the lights on and off like a lightweight swap, we are able to mainly do that very same factor by simply altering the pulsing of the lamps and thereby cooking it as quick as potential.

When we have now a 3 zone cook dinner, say you’ve bought steak in a single zone, potatoes in one other zone, and broccoli in one other zone. We’re not cooking one zone at 400-degrees, one at 300, and one at 200. We’ll be doing one thing the place we sear the highest and the underside of the steak after which let that relaxation. Because it involves temperature, we begin pulsing the potatoes to roast that extra. Then we’d closely roast the broccoli. The lamps are dancing round between the totally different zones, cooking it like a chef would manually.

Then we have now all of it coordinated by our cooks who’ve coordinated these pulses of sunshine in order that the whole lot is finished and completely cooked on the similar time.

That’s so, so cool. I need to admit, you make it sound exhausting to make use of. Zac, I do know it’s not. However inform me simply precisely how I, as a person, am in a position to get it to do all of the pulses proper and the whole lot else. What does arrange and really utilizing it appear to be?

Properly, it’s fairly sophisticated utilizing software program. Our cooks have programmed Brava on again finish utilizing a proprietary coding language that we developed that tells every lamp when to fireplace, at what energy stage, and for a way lengthy. Then we are able to run loops of these applications to cook dinner in order that the precise person expertise takes all of that out. All it’s a must to do is enter into Brava’s search perform what you wish to cook dinner. For instance, rooster, Brussel sprouts, potatoes. Brava goes to go discover that recipe program. Now we have 8500 totally automated recipe applications. On the contact display screen, it’ll present you. We’ll get into how you are able to do this when you’re blind quickly. It’s going to present or let you know the place on the tray to put the substances, how they need to be minimize. Then all you do is load the tray into the Brava and press the inexperienced button, and it totally automates the cooking.

A great analogy that I heard lately was we did for cooking what Tesla did for autonomous driving. However as a substitute of coming into a vacation spot, what you’re coming into is the ultimate dish that you just wish to cook dinner, after which permitting Brava to go do its work whereas you are able to do one thing else.

That’s tremendous cool. As a result of yeah, it sounds so advanced. On the again finish, I’m certain with the coding and the whole lot that it’s. However I like that it’s simpler to make use of than I believe my microwave, and it really cooks the meals an entire lot higher than that gadget.

You began alluding to this a bit bit, Travis. When did you notice that this might be a useful gadget for people with disabilities?

That’s an incredible query, Josh. It was about two years in the past. We launched Brava on the finish of 2018. The purpose was to assist dwelling cooks cook dinner quicker and with extra ease than ever earlier than. What we discovered is that we had constructed numerous security options into Brava from the very starting. About two years in the past, we began promoting to an organization known as Confirmed Habits Options, which is in Massachusetts. As a result of we’re a D-to-C firm, it was unusual to us that we had been getting orders from a enterprise. We ended up calling them and saying, “What are you guys doing with this?”

They turned out to be one of many companies in Massachusetts that does assistive expertise assessments. They’re serving younger people with autism who had been attempting to stay independently. It turned out that numerous the protection options that we constructed into Brava had an elevated stage of significance for assistive expertise customers. A few of these options embrace the truth that it’s cool to the contact on the outside. Some other toaster oven or countertop oven will get very popular and might burn you when you contact the highest floor, however Brava stays cool to the contact. Now we have a digital camera in Brava that sends a stay video feed of what’s cooking contained in the oven chamber to the cell app. You too can shut off the oven remotely from the cell app.

That turned out to be a very nice characteristic for caretakers as a result of when you have an grownup little one that’s attempting to stay independently, or when you have dad and mom which are growing old in place, and also you wish to have some peace of thoughts realizing that after they’re cooking that they’re going to show the oven off, or issues like that. You may get a notification, even when you don’t personal the Brava. So long as you’re signed into their account, you’ll get a notification in your cell phone any time that oven activates. They will click on into that notification and see the stay video feed. The caregiver can shut the oven off in the event that they wish to.

The truth that Brava shuts off mechanically was an enormous factor for them as a result of lots of people, whether or not they’re aged or they’ve government perform difficulties, it’s very straightforward to overlook to show off the oven. However when Brava’s accomplished cooking, it shuts off mechanically. Brava cools off in a short time, not like a conventional oven, so that you just don’t should rush to get issues out. You bought to think about an everyday oven at 400-degrees, once you flip it off it’s nonetheless 400-degrees contained in the chamber. However Brava, although it has extra energy supply than a conventional oven, it doesn’t get as sizzling as an everyday oven inside in a lot of the situations of cooking. The Brava cools off to about 100, 120-degrees inside 5 minutes. You possibly can go away issues inside Brava, whether or not you’ve roasted a rooster breast otherwise you’ve roasted some greens like broccoli, you don’t should rush to get them out. That was an enormous, huge win for folks with assistive expertise.

Yeah. I’m not going to lie, that was one of many greatest issues only for me personally utilizing it. I’ve bought two younger youngsters. The mix of not having to plan issues out and preheat, after which keep in mind to place the meals in, after which keep in mind to take the meals out at a sure time. There’s a bunch of those low stage anxieties that you’ve got when cooking that I wasn’t even conscious of till I first bought my Brava and began utilizing it. If my youngsters are preventing within the again room and I get distracted, I’m not going to burn one thing.

Even in my very own private expertise, I noticed that eradicating a few of these anxieties simply led to me cooking extra and leaning on it extra. That’s what we’ve seen with people we’ve launched it to. As we’ve talked to extra of those companies and issues like that, there’s numerous these anxieties. Worries about leaving the oven on, or burning dangers, or issues like that. By smoothing these edges off and eradicating a few of these issues, folks begin to get extra enthusiastic about cooking.

Then the very last thing that’s actually nice in regards to the Brava is as a result of it’s managed by software program, we are able to replace it and add options. As we’ve been studying extra in regards to the assistive expertise neighborhood and the totally different wants that folks have, we are able to work so as to add new options and capabilities. We attempt to method it in a modular approach in order that we construct out totally different units of options that may be arrange and mixed to accommodate totally different person wants and situations. We’re all the time studying and attempting so as to add extra in in order that we might be extra useful for a wider group of individuals.

Yeah. I like that they had been options already inbuilt, issues to simply make it simpler, extra user-friendly. Then, yeah, how the neighborhood discovered that, “Hey, these are actually useful in this type of approach, too.” Yeah. The actual purpose of assistive expertise and numerous the providers which are supplied round it are independence. Yeah, one thing that can be utilized and be unbiased. Zac, you talked about small youngsters, I’ve them, too. One in every of them all the time desires to assist cook dinner, and all the time has their little, tiny chair, and so they’re three.

Simply it not being sizzling on the surface is a very great point, too. As a result of yeah, every time I attempt to cook dinner with a forged iron or something, I’m like, “Oh my gosh, it’s going to burn into their hand,” or the whole lot else. Simply what nice security options that had been already there. Then I like how these translated over so properly.

It ended up in order that my youngsters might make their very own grilled cheese and never fear about-

All the pieces that goes together with it.

Worrying about them attempting to flip one thing and burn it, and attending to eat proper. As a substitute, they only take out the bread and the cheese, set it up on the center of the tray, and mainly push a button. It’s been nice.

Oh, that’s so cool. You additionally talked about that people with a visible impairment or blind can use it as properly. How does that work?

Yeah. That was one of many first issues that we observed. As we began leaning into this world and attempting to study extra about it, we fairly shortly heard that, “Properly, the touchscreen on the oven is the least accessible facet of the cooking course of.” We began studying extra about it.

Final yr at HEIA, we met the parents from the Lighthouse in San Francisco. We partnered up with them and we spent mainly all of final yr rebuilding all the again finish of the oven in order that you may totally management the oven utilizing the app and to optimize the app expertise in order that it really works with display screen readers.

Each voiceover and speak again. It’s the identical course of blind and visually impaired people. To make a grilled cheese for instance, you go utilizing the display screen reader, undergo the app, seek for a grilled cheese. It’ll ask you a pair questions like what sort of bread you’re utilizing, white, wheat, or sourdough. It’ll ask what number of sandwiches that you just wish to make. As you make your desire alternatives, it updates the ingredient checklist. Then the preparation directions, it’ll let you know to butter each side of the bread, put the cheese in, and let you know what zones to put it onto the chilly tray. The tray really has bodily indicators of the place the zones are. Then from the app, you may ship the recipe to the oven. All it’s a must to do is slide the tray in and there’s a big bodily button on the highest of the oven that you just press to start out the cook dinner.

We set that up.

The opposite cool factor that I’ve discovered by means of this course of with assistive expertise is numerous instances making issues simpler to make use of for the assistive expertise world, for all of our clients it makes issues simpler. There’s numerous overlap between pondering by means of these totally different use circumstances and desires.

That’s superior, that’s superior. You guys have each talked about the app a bit bit. Inform me what all it could actually do and the way it works together with the Brava Oven?

Yeah. The app, up till mainly the very finish of final yr once we launched this new characteristic, it was once you may nonetheless seek for the recipes and get a way of what you may cook dinner on there. When you had been grocery procuring or one thing like that, you may be away out of your oven and nonetheless plan out what you wished to make. It receives notifications when a cook dinner begins or when the cook dinner’s over. We talked about that there’s a digital camera inside so when it’s cooking, you may open the app and monitor what’s taking place within the oven. There’s another enjoyable options, like you may see your cook dinner historical past and see little time lapse movies of your earlier cooks. Which is definitely additionally nice, as a result of we use that characteristic to assist troubleshoot. If any person’s having a difficulty with a given cook dinner, we are able to undergo the historical past with them and assist work out preparation wants for them. You couldn’t really make the alternatives, like your quantity or your doneness preferences and stuff, for instance.

What we’ve added simply on the finish of final yr is the power to do all of these controls and mainly set the whole lot up instantly from the app. One thing else that we have now talked about but, however is feasible. Brava has the 8500 recipes, but it surely additionally has 10 handbook modes. It’s going to nonetheless bake and air fry, and we’ve bought a reheat and a rice cooker mode. You possibly can nonetheless use it to cook dinner historically.

From the app, you can too, we have now a neighborhood of individuals that may construct what we name customized cooks and share them with the remainder of the neighborhood. There’s the recipes that the Brava cooks have made. However when you have your mother’s favourite lasagna recipe, you may dial that in in order that it bakes at 400-degrees for 40 minutes, after which strikes right into a top-sear for 2 minutes. It can save you that, add all of the directions, and share that with the neighborhood. And save that to your favorites, so that you’ve got a shortlist of the recipes that you just wish to make and completely management the oven from there.

Tremendous cool, tremendous cool. Do you guys have a narrative of possibly somebody’s expertise with the Brava Oven that caught with you?

I’ve one million tales. Travis talked about one of many ways in which we first bought into assistive expertise. One of many first circumstances that we heard about was from a pair that had been married for 50 years. The husband hadn’t cooked once-

… in the entire 50 years. Then she had a stroke and was unable to cook dinner. They had been ordering DoorDash nonstop till their youngsters purchased them a Brava. We heard from them thanking us as a result of they had been in a position to begin cooking at dwelling once more. That was one of many issues that bought us interested by this and searching into this.

Then I believe one of many newer tales that I heard that I beloved was from Confirmed, that Travis talked about. The place Rachel was working with a younger man who was a self-described choosy eater. For the final a number of years, he’d solely eaten frozen rooster nuggets and frozen french fries. However he was scared to make use of the oven, so he was microwaving them. That damage our hearts a bit bit as a result of frozen nuggets and frozen french fries out of microwave get all soggy and gross. They set him up with a Brava. We even have the power in Brava to do rooster nuggets and french fries on the similar time on the identical tray. It’s about as quick because the microwave, possibly a minute or two longer, but it surely really crisps the whole lot up and comes out scrumptious. He was tremendous blissful as a result of it guided him by means of it, it was straightforward, he might completely do it, and the meals was popping out so a lot better.

Rachel mentioned the final time that she went to go to him, he was actually excited and wished to make pancakes for her. She mentioned that he did gag a bit bit when he took his first bit, however he saved consuming. He’s since expanded his cooking repertoire and has been attempting new meals as a result of that feeling of company and possession makes meals style higher, and being concerned in that course of was giving him the boldness to develop his palette and discover extra meals.

Which is so nice to listen to.

I like it, I like it. Guys, if our listeners wish to discover out extra in regards to the Brava Oven and the whole lot it could actually provide, what’s a great way for them to try this?

Simply go to our web site. It’s www.brava.com. You too can discover Brava at Amazon or Williams Sonoma on-line. It’s additionally on Wayfair and Parable. If the listeners wish to see the demo of the display screen readers in motion, all it’s a must to do is search Brava accessibility on Google and it’ll take you to a touchdown web page that reveals you a few two-minute video of one of many guys from the Lighthouse who’s totally blind making a grilled cheese on Brava.

Properly, Travis, Zac, thanks a lot for approaching the present, for telling us all about Brava. I like the way in which that it began off as simply an incredible software that would assist people, after which ended up having the ability to assist entire different populations. Then even the adjustments you’ve been in a position to make to make it much more accessible for everyone. Thanks once more, and actually, actually like it, and love getting to speak about it.

Yeah. Thanks a lot. This was nice.

Do you may have a query about assistive expertise? Do you may have a suggestion for somebody we should always interview on Assistive Expertise Replace? If that’s the case, name our listener line at 317-721-7124, ship us an electronic mail at tech@eastersealscrossroads.org, or shoot us a be aware on Twitter @indataproject.

Our captions and transcripts for the present are sponsored by the Indiana Phone Relay Entry Company, or InTRAC. You’ll find out extra about InTRAC at relayindiana.com. A particular due to Nikol Prieto for scheduling our superb company and making a multitude of my schedule. At the moment’s present was produced, edited, hosted, and fraught over by yours actually. The opinions expressed by our company are their very own and will or could not mirror these of the INDATA Challenge, Easter Seals Crossroads, our supporting companions, or this host. This was your Assistive Expertise Replace, and I’m Josh Anderson with the INDATA Challenge at Easter Seals Crossroads in lovely Indianapolis, Indiana. We look ahead to seeing you subsequent time. Bye-bye.