A plate that counts calories. It is the invention of the American Anthony Ortiz, in Philadelphia (United States). After the connected watch, the connected pen, the connected fork… the connected plate:the SmartPlate. With its three compartments, this smart dish identifies foods, weighs them, checks the number of calories to help you monitor your diet.
Using small photo sensors, the plate visually identifies the food. Then the information is sent to a database to analyze their nutritional qualities. The goal ? Find a way to curb cravings and watch what you eat. In an increasingly connected world, this new element of our daily life that controls our gestures, it can seem a little scary. In fact, the SmartPlate has many advantages.
Thanks to a smartphone application connected via Wi-Fi, you will have advice on how to adapt your diet according to the desired objective. The plate sends you notifications if you need to remove part of the contents of the dish, or even if you eat too quickly. Tracking our meals on a daily basis will help a dieter stick to their schedule. In France, almost 70% of women have already done at least one diet in their life according to a 2012 NutriNet-Santé study, so it could be a real help! This object is therefore a dietary assistant, which you can listen to (or not, for that matter).
With recent reminders from the World Health Organization (WHO) that obesity is truly a public health epidemic, the SmartPlate appears to be the future of nutrition. In 2014, 39% of adults were overweight. It would also be recommended for athletes following a strict diet. In the meantime, the creator of the plate is looking for donors to launch production and market the prototype. He is asking the general public for $100,000 to carry out his project, through the Kickstarter participatory site. If he gets the funding, the smart dish should be on the market at the end of 2016, so we still have time to eat what we want and in the quantities we want!