Do you like reading the labels on your products? Do you even regret not being able to find it on fruit? There's a new gadget to help you scan everything, even containers, and it's awesome!
It is called SCiO, molecular sensor or spectroscope. It's a very small object that we hold in our hand to scan the food in front of us to know its attributes and composition, but it can be used for much more.
First developed with their diabetic daughter in mind, the SCiO was to help the founders monitor her carbohydrate intake. They thought that by scanning all the foods, they could better control his insulin. It seems that one thing leading to another, they had many other good ideas for things to do with this machine…
Knowing the components of food
The device allows you to know the fat, carbohydrate and protein content of the dishes and ingredients in front of you. It will therefore make it possible to judge whether an avocado is ripe or which watermelon is the sweetest, for example. We can even detect alcohol in dishes, but not vitamins.
By knowing the weight of a food,you can also calculate the number of calories. DietSensor, the company behind SCiO, is also in the process of developing a portable device that will allow you to know the weight of food.
The SCiO will be very useful for those who have diabetes and other chronic dietary diseases, and who need to closely monitor what they eat. Those who suffer from cardiovascular diseases, for example, will surely appreciate it. It will also certainly be useful for those who are overweight or who follow a specific diet.
However, it is not recommended for people who suffer from severe allergies because it is not yet precise enough. The analysis is more difficult with cakes and their icing, lasagna, pâtés and other foods that are composed of several layers. Since the device does not scan deep, it works best with homogeneous products. It is possible to analyze several points in food, but it is not enough to make it safe for allergies.
A growing network
It is possible to keep a diary of what you have eaten thanks to this device and the related application, which is called SmartPlate. The goal is to get a large database of users, develop a community and share information. We may eventually see a community of moms for life who share the best puree ingredients, who knows?
Scan onebit of everything
To scan the food, the sensor sends an infrared ray, vibrates the molecules and analyzes the wavelengths thanks to a band of data contained in the Cloud.
This is how it can recognize the composition of a dish, but also the state of he alth of your plants, the composition of the medicines you take, that of the sand in which the children play or that clothes you buy. It also allows you to scan the oils you buy, the composition of jewelry and the ingredients of your makeup. In any case, this is what we are promised on the official website.
We haven't tested the SCiO yet, which is still in the pre-order stage, but it's a gadget that promises to be very useful at the daily. For now, the device costs $249 and requires a subscription of $10 per month. If this device eventually gains popularity, it's a safe bet that one day we'll wonder how we managed to eat so many things before, without being sure what was in it.
