A startup based in Israel is on its way to potentially developing a device to reveal the fat content, calories, and various other properties of your food with a touch of a button.
The SCiO spectrometer by Consumer Physics, which sends information about scanned objects to your smartphone, will be able to be utilized in a variety of settings.
"Smartphones made it easy to research facts, capture images, and navigate street maps, but they haven't brought us closer to the physical environment in which we live – until now," as stated on the Consumer Physics website.
This handheld molecular sensor will be available to provide instant information about the chemical and biological components of everyday objects, such as food. However, while it can be used to pick ripe fruit and vegetables while grocery shopping, this device can be used far beyond the supermarket produce section. According to Eater, this keychain-sized mechanism could potentially be used to determine the best to plant a crop throughout analyzing the properties of the soil, or even in the healthcare field for clinical medicine trials.
Although the SCiO has already raised over $2 million on Kickstarter, it’s currently undergoing various issues from involving critics and intellectual property problems and has since been removed from the website. Nevertheless, the thought that I could carry such a useful sensor around in my purse is pretty intriguing.