In-oven camera

1. A cooking appliance comprising:

one or more heating elements;

a cooking chamber;

a directional light source, separate from the heating elements, configured to project light within the cooking chamber;

a camera adapted to capture an image of a content at least partially inside the cooking chamber while the directional light source is projecting light; and

a computing device configured to control the heating elements based on the captured image and determine depth information of content in the cooking chamber from the captured image.

2. The cooking appliance of claim 1 , wherein the computing device is configured to analyze the captured image from the camera to determine whether a door of the cooking chamber is open.

3. The cooking appliance of claim 1 , wherein the computing device is configured to identify a machine-readable label in the captured image and to configure a heating pattern for the heating elements based on the machine-readable label.

4. The cooking appliance of claim 3 , wherein the computing device is configured to select, based on the machine-readable label, a heating recipe from a heating recipe library and to execute the heating pattern by controlling the heating elements according to the heating recipe.

5. The cooking appliance of claim 1 , wherein the computing device is configured to adjust a heating duration, a heating schedule, a heating intensity, a peak emission wavelength, or any combination thereof, of at least one of the heating elements.

6. The cooking appliance of claim 1 , further comprising: a second camera; and wherein the camera is a first camera, wherein the first camera and the second camera are configured to capture a pair of output images simultaneously, and wherein the computing device is configured to determine, based on the pair of output images, the depth information associated with content in the cooking chamber.

7. A cooking appliance comprising:

one or more heating elements;

a windowless enclosure at least partially defining a first chamber having a door thereto;

a second chamber within the windowless enclosure, wherein the second chamber is separated from the first chamber by at least a double pane window, wherein the first chamber is optically opaque in the visible spectrum from outside of the enclosure; and

a camera within the second chamber, the camera adapted to capture an image of a content at least partially inside the first chamber.

8. The cooking appliance of claim 7 , wherein the camera includes an infrared sensor.

9. The cooking appliance of claim 7 , wherein the double pane window includes a first glass pane separated from a second glass pane, wherein the second glass pane form a part of an interior of the first chamber and is adapted to be heated to prevent condensation.

10. The cooking appliance of claim 7 , wherein the heating elements and the camera are disposed such that the camera is not directly between any pairing of the heating elements.

11. The cooking appliance of claim 7 , further comprising a display on an exterior side of the cooking appliance, wherein the display is configured to display the image.

12. The cooking appliance of claim 1 , further comprising a computing device configured to digitally process the image to improve aesthetics prior to presentation.

13. The cooking appliance of claim 11 , wherein the display is configured to display a video of the interior of the chamber captured by the camera.

14. The cooking appliance of claim 7 , wherein the heating elements include one or more wavelength-controllable filament assemblies at one or more locations in the chamber.

15. The cooking appliance of claim 14 , wherein each of the one or more wavelength-controllable filament assemblies is capable of independently adjusting an emission peak wavelength.

16. The cooking appliance of claim 14 , wherein each of the one or more wavelength-controllable filament assemblies is capable of independently adjusting emission power or emission duration.

17. The cooking appliance of claim 7 , wherein the camera is disposed on or behind the top of the chamber.

18. The cooking appliance of claim 7 , wherein the camera is disposed on the door of the chamber.

19. The cooking appliance of claim 7 , further comprising a light source configured to illuminate the chamber for the camera.

20. The cooking appliance of claim 19 , wherein the light source is one of the heating elements.

21. The cooking appliance of claim 7 , further comprising a forced air cooling fan adapted to cool the camera.

22. The cooking appliance of claim 7 , further comprising a cooling apparatus adapted to cool the camera, wherein the cooling apparatus is a compressor or a Peltier cooler.

23. A cooking appliance comprising:

one or more heating elements;

an enclosure at least partially defining a chamber having a door thereto, wherein the chamber is optically opaque in the visible spectrum from outside of the enclosure; and

an optical sensor within the enclosure and separated from interior of the chamber by at least two optically transparent structures, wherein the optical sensor is adapted to monitor an optical signal from inside the first chamber, wherein the optically transparent structures include at least a glass pane separated from another glass pane.

24. The cooking appliance of claim 23 , wherein the optical sensor is an infrared sensor.

25. The cooking appliance of claim 23 , wherein the optically transparent structures are separated by air.

26. A cooking appliance comprising:

one or more heating elements;

an enclosure at least partially defining a cooking chamber having a door thereto, wherein the cooking chamber is optically opaque in the visible spectrum from outside of the enclosure; and

an optical sensor within the enclosure and separated from interior of the cooking chamber by at least two optically transparent structures, wherein the optical sensor is adapted to monitor an optical signal from inside the cooking chamber, wherein the optically transparent structures are separated by vacuum.