+/- Hot Plate concept keeps food warm with conductive pattern

Entered as part of the designboom "Dining in 2015" competition, this "+/- hot plate" is a standard ceramic plate with silk-screened gold and amorphic metal films overlaid onto its surface.  When power is attached, the films heat up and either keep your food warm or even cook it from scratch, using the same principles as found in car windshield defrosters.

Designed by Ami Drach and Dov Ganchrow, what could have been dull etchings or strips have been turned into decorations in their own right.  While the more sparse patterns are more to keep the food warm, similar to a hotplate, the more complex versions – which cover more of the plate surface – can be used to cook eggs, as shown in the gallery below.

Sadly they're just concepts right now, but given the amount of warming-gadgets that we see on the tips line every day, it's only a matter of time until someone slaps a USB cord on a plate and proclaims it the next big thing for the slow-eating blogger. 

[via NOTCOT]