Foodie Tech

[chromedome]

An interesting device, soon to hit the US market...

 

http://spectrum.ieee.org/view-from-the-valley/at-work/start-ups/israeli-startup-consumer-physics-says-its-scio-food-analyzer-is-finally-ready-for-prime-timeso-we-took-it-grocery-shopping

[boilsover]

I find it interesting in the academic sense, but if everyone at WAP (Whole Amazon Paycheck) is twiddling their fecally-infected smartphones in between picking up every piece of fruit, hoping to bump the needle to "good", there will be blood...

Edited July 8, 2017 by boilsover (log)

[pastrygirl]

Interesting, but I don't consider sugar to be the only mark of deliciousness.  What would it do with Granny Smith apples, say they are all bad?  Can it detect whether a peach will be mealy and gross, or only the sugar?  Can it tell how juicy a lemon will be?  Maybe I could use it to find less sweet corn because all the super-sweet is too sweet for me - sometimes I want produce that is "poor" on the sugar scale!

 

Almost everything packaged already has nutrition info.  Ok, cheese sold by weight might not, but anyone counting calories already knows that cheese tends to be high fat. I guess it could be useful at buffets or something but in general if you don't want crap produce, don't buy out of season or flown in from the other hemisphere. 

 

I wonder if it is accurate enough for people with actual medical needs, like whether a diabetic could trust the sugar info. 

 

On a consumer level, how many of us have bought more than $200 of disappointing produce in a year?  I doubt this device would pay for itself in terms of food waste avoided.  Even mealy, un-sweet peaches can be made edible by cooking with a bit of sugar.  Cool toy, but not necessary in my world.

[lindag]

I wonder if it woul work for melons?

i'm on my fourth cantaloupe in the last few weeks that turned it kind of hard and lacking sweetness.

Edited July 8, 2017 by lindag (log)

[chromedome]

18 hours ago, lindag said:

I wonder if it woul work for melons?

i'm on my fourth cantaloupe in the last few weeks that turned it kind of hard and lacking sweetness.

 

I use my nose for that. If it doesn't smell like anything much, it won't taste like anything much. The unfortunate reality is that sometimes, there just *isn't* a good melon in the whole store. 

[chromedome]

Honestly I doubt I'd buy one of these gizmos either (my phone gets used mostly as a backup e-reader, for when I don't have my Kobo to hand) but it seemed an interesting application of the technology. I'm sure it will turn out to be useful in some niches. 

[boilsover]

21 hours ago, pastrygirl said:

Interesting, but I don't consider sugar to be the only mark of deliciousness.  What would it do with Granny Smith apples, say they are all bad?  Can it detect whether a peach will be mealy and gross, or only the sugar?  Can it tell how juicy a lemon will be?  Maybe I could use it to find less sweet corn because all the super-sweet is too sweet for me - sometimes I want produce that is "poor" on the sugar scale!

 

Almost everything packaged already has nutrition info.  Ok, cheese sold by weight might not, but anyone counting calories already knows that cheese tends to be high fat. I guess it could be useful at buffets or something but in general if you don't want crap produce, don't buy out of season or flown in from the other hemisphere. 

 

I wonder if it is accurate enough for people with actual medical needs, like whether a diabetic could trust the sugar info. 

 

On a consumer level, how many of us have bought more than $200 of disappointing produce in a year?  I doubt this device would pay for itself in terms of food waste avoided.  Even mealy, un-sweet peaches can be made edible by cooking with a bit of sugar.  Cool toy, but not necessary in my world.

 

A $20 refractometer will measure sugar.  This thing is mostly a hipster solution in search of a problem, IMO.

[gulator]

On 7/8/2017 at 0:11 PM, chromedome said:

An interesting device, soon to hit the US market...

 

http://spectrum.ieee.org/view-from-the-valley/at-work/start-ups/israeli-startup-consumer-physics-says-its-scio-food-analyzer-is-finally-ready-for-prime-timeso-we-took-it-grocery-shopping

Found this very interesting, as a geek and good-food lover  My question (as a geek) is about IOT  (:Internet Of thinks), meaning to share data/info ? Especially about recommendations / advices about products from and shared among customers   

[Shalmanese]

4 hours ago, boilsover said:

 

A $20 refractometer will measure sugar.  This thing is mostly a hipster solution in search of a problem, IMO.

 

Yeah, but a $20 refractometer requires you to extract a sample which I doubt grocery stores would be happy with. The entire appeal of this is that it's non invasive.

[chromedome]

4 hours ago, boilsover said:

 

A $20 refractometer will measure sugar.  This thing is mostly a hipster solution in search of a problem, IMO.

That's not necessarily a bad thing. Lasers were once a solution in search of a problem, and they turned out to be pretty useful. 

 

 

[scubadoo97]

5 hours ago, chromedome said:

That's not necessarily a bad thing. Lasers were once a solution in search of a problem, and they turned out to be pretty useful. 

 

 

Yes they have

[gfweb]

I think I need to see some data. IIRC IR radiation penetrates about a millimeter. Is that enough?

 

Maybe.

 

I want to believe, but prove its not just nonsense, please

[flippant]

I'm not sure I could justify this given its present cost, but as the article states, this technology is likely to be rolled into mobile phones in China, where dodgy produce and ingredients (powdered milk and baby formula especially) are rife.

Edited July 10, 2017 by flippant (log)

[pastrygirl]

1 hour ago, flippant said:

I'm not sure I could justify this given its present cost, but as the article states, this technology is likely to be rolled into mobile phones in China, where dodgy produce and ingredients (powdered milk and baby formula especially) are rife.

 

 

How awful if people need a device to tell whether their food is actually food. 

[boilsover]

On 7/9/2017 at 1:02 PM, chromedome said:

That's not necessarily a bad thing. Lasers were once a solution in search of a problem, and they turned out to be pretty useful. 

 

 

Yes, lasers have amused millions of cats and dogs, helped me remember which end of my pistol and thermometer was which, and kept Led Zepplin music popular...