I want to thank all who replied. I am very serious about this subject. Safety is very important. I would like to see this type of microwave produced by a manufacturer. I also put a patent out for the idea. What people may not realize is there are billions of senior/assisted homes being built because of all the older baby boomers. These places usually start at 4 to $5000 a month. Senior living is great, but when it becomes time for assistance, all things change. Assisted living apartments only allow microwaves. I know 80 and 90 year old people cannot read instructions or even see all of the fancy buttons. I believe manufacturing a safer microwave and selling these by the bulk, is a big money making opportunity. I also worry about my mom. We had to place masking tape on the buttons she can use.
While your goal may be admirable, I don't think you've thought this through very well. A good mental exercise to do is to ask not why you should do something, but instead to ask yourself "Why hasn't this been done before?"
Combination microwave-fridge units are already commonly made for college dorms. (Why? Because they need a mechanism to shut off the fridge when the microwave is running, to prevent overloading the circuit and tripping the breaker.) So there clearly are already manufacturers who specialize in "institutional" appliances. Why haven't they gone after this market, then?
So let's see why they might not be making these. Here's me brainstorming, in no particular order:
1. is this actually a market big enough to go after?
2. is the target audience of elderly
who struggle with ordinary microwaves as big as you think it is?
3. is there no microwave on the market that solves some or all of the problems?
What's the competitive landscape?
4. is it technically feasible to build such a device?
5. if you can build it, what new problems could it cause?
6. is there actually money to be made?
7. today's 90 year olds struggle with microwaves because they didn't grow up with them. Boomers have been using microwaves for most of their lives. Will they actually struggle to use an ordinary microwave once they are seniors?
Let's look at each of these.
1. Yeah, I think it could be, given that even a small percentage of seniors already mean potentially millions of sales, maybe a few hundred K per year.
2. Probably not.
3. Well, you've raised several issues. One issue is confusing controls — but there do exist microwaves with simple mechanical timers and no modes. There are also ones (commonly used in commercial kitchens, cafeterias, etc) that have only a few buttons, which are custom-programmed to specific recipes. The other issue is wanting it to monitor for overtemperature. I don't think that's feasible. Temperatures high enough to be food-safe are high enough to scald, period.
4. Simple controls? Sure. Temperature monitoring? Difficult — accurate monitoring of the internal temperature of foods has vexed established microwave makers for decades. But even if you could monitor internal temperature well, it's literally impossible to make food hot enough for safety and yet keep the food cool to the touch.
5. Food safety: if you don't heat food to skin-scalding temperatures (~160F), it's not hot enough to ensure food safety. So a microwave that refuses to heat to a scalding temperature is going to be a risk for food poisoning, which the immune systems of the elderly are extra susceptible to. IMHO, this makes this concept a non-starter.
6. Doubtful, in that microwave ovens are now low-cost, low-margin commodities. I have no doubt you could make
some money, but given the comparatively low volumes of such a niche product, you'll be pricing it higher than a mainstream model of similar capabilities and quality, thus reducing the number of buyers.
7. I don't think so. If you've lived most of your life using regular microwaves, you'll likely continue to do fine with most ordinary microwaves, provided the buttons and displays aren't too small.
So, not trying to piss on your parade, just some food for serious thought. Given how many companies specialize in assistive products for the elderly, it's worth serious thought as to why they haven't done this already. Lest you put all your savings into this and then have it go nowhere…
If you ask me, a better idea might be to market microwave cookware that's designed to stay cool to the touch and provides large, arthritis-friendly handles (à la Oxo Good Grips).