Tired of never knowing how hot your food is when it comes out of the microwave? We’ve got good news for you. Former NASA engineer and serial inventor Mark Rober has developed a new kind of microwave that essentially has thermal vision and can display the temperature of the grub you’re nuking in real-time. It’s one of those things that makes you think, “Why the hell hasn’t this been invented yet?!”

It’s still just a prototype at this point, but the overall concept is fairly straightforward. In addition to the standard magnetron that emits microwave radiation and warms up your food, the Heat Map Microwave is equipped with a set of infrared cameras and an LCD screen instead of a window. As your food cooks, the IR cameras capture a heat-mapped image of it and beam it onto the screen. Future iterations will even be able to sling the the image to a smartphone or tablet over your home Wi-Fi network, and you’ll be able to add additional time remotely via an accompanying app.

Rober has already attained a patent for the microwave design and is currently trying to gauge consumer interest in the product so he can convince investors to fund its development. Unfortunately, he’s not going the crowdfunding route, so you can’t pre-order one on Kickstarter or Indiegogo. What you can do is sign the petition on his website to show your support. If Rober gets enough signatures, the Heat Map Microwave will very likely become a reality.

Let’s make this happen. We don’t know about you, but we’re tired of burning the taste buds off our tongues every time we try to make a burrito.

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