ARMONK, N.Y., June 30, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- America's most technologically advanced sous chef is back. In collaboration with Bon Appetit, IBM (NYSE: IBM), today is announcing an app called "Chef Watson with Bon Appetit." Initially available via a limited beta program, the new app, powered by IBM Watson technology and Bon Appetit's culinary knowledge, allows home cooks to draw on Watson's advanced cognitive capabilities to create entirely new recipes and gastronomic combinations that have previously never been conceived.

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The new app is the next step in the evolution of Chef Watson, which was introduced by IBM and the Institute of Culinary Education (ICE) earlier this year at the SXSW conference in Austin, Texas. The demonstration brought together Watson's learning and natural language capabilities with top chefs to delight the palates of local attendees. IBM is now launching a beta version of an application built around this technology, tailored to the needs of avid home cooks. Learn more about Chef Watson here.

"At Bon Appetit, we were curious to see what Watson could discover that was never previously considered, helping unlock a chef's creativity," said Adam Rapoport, editor-in-chief, Bon Appetit. "We see the intersection of technology and food sparking new thinking and creativity not only in our own test kitchen, but in our reader's homes as well."

"Chef Watson with Bon Appetit" allows an individual to go beyond the limitations of simple preparation to drive new creations and combinations of ingredients, based on scientific knowledge of cognitive technology. The original Jeopardy! winning Watson system was trained to understand large amount of information and quickly retrieve answers to all kinds of questions. Today, Watson is working to augment and scale expertise by serving as the ultimate assistant to professionals in industries including retail, healthcare and financial services. Chef Watson represents another example of the versatility of the technology and the diverse ways in which Watson will change our lives.

"We're partnering with Bon Appetit to put Watson initially into the hands of a small group of people who have a passion for cooking, a desire to experiment and who want to be a part of something ground breaking," said Mike Rhodin, Senior Vice President, IBM Watson Group. "Our goal is to help people discover the potential of cognitive computing systems. These systems can understand vast amounts of data, compounds, and formulas as well as learn from interactions with people and information, in a far more intuitive way."

Chef Watson will initially be available to a select group of Bon Appetit's readers, building on the success of Chef Watson in the Bon Appetit Test Kitchen. Bon Appetit readers can visit this site for the opportunity to become a beta-tester and read about the experiences of home cooks working with the app here.

To learn more about how Chef Watson was developed, visit: Smarter Planet Blog: Bon Appetit Discovers Culinary Creativity with IBM Watson

To learn more about how Watson caught Bon Appetit's eye, visit: Smarter Planet Blog: Bon Appetit

About IBM
For more information on Chef Watson, please visit here.
To join the social discussion about Watson include the hashtag #ibmwatson
Follow Watson on Facebook www.facebook.com/ibmwatson
Follow Watson on YouTube http://bit.ly/1lkJTpq
To view a Flickr image gallery with photos and screen shots, visit: http://bit.ly/1ouxDrD

CONTACT:

John Connolly
IBM Media Relations
781-636-8512
jconnol@us.ibm.com

Fiona Doherty
IBM Media Relations
914-573-3935
fhdohert@us.ibm.com

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SOURCE IBM

SOURCE: IBM