News from Washington:
Scientist of Washington develops a necklace
that can track calorie intake by simple “LISTENING” to sound of different food
as you chew these foods.
Researchers are creating a library that
catalogues the unique sounds that foods make as we bite, grind and swallow them.
The library is part of a software package
that supports AutoDietary, a food-tracking necklace being developed by
researchers from the University at Buffalo (UB) in US and Northeastern
University in China.
Researchers said, unlike other wearable devices that track burned calories, Auto Dietary monitors caloric intake at the neck.
Researchers said, unlike other wearable devices that track burned calories, Auto Dietary monitors caloric intake at the neck.
"There is no shortage of wearable
devices that tell us how many calories we burn, but creating a device that
reliably measures caloric intake isn't so easy," said Wenyao Xu, assistant
professor at UB.
Auto Dietary wraps around the back of the neck like a choker necklace. A tiny high-fidelity microphone -- about the size of a zipper pull -- records the sounds made during mastication and as the food is swallowed.
That data is sent to a Smartphone via Bluetooth, where food types are recognized.
The study describes how 12 test subjects, male and female, ages 13 to 49, were given water and six types of food -- apples, carrots, potato chips, cookies, peanuts and walnuts.
Auto Dietary was able to accurately identify the correct food and drink 85% of the time, researchers said.
Auto Dietary wraps around the back of the neck like a choker necklace. A tiny high-fidelity microphone -- about the size of a zipper pull -- records the sounds made during mastication and as the food is swallowed.
That data is sent to a Smartphone via Bluetooth, where food types are recognized.
The study describes how 12 test subjects, male and female, ages 13 to 49, were given water and six types of food -- apples, carrots, potato chips, cookies, peanuts and walnuts.
Auto Dietary was able to accurately identify the correct food and drink 85% of the time, researchers said.
"Each food, as it's chewed, has its own voice," said Xu, adding that device could someday help people suffering from diabetes, obesity, bowel disorders and other ailments by enabling them to better monitor their food intake and, thus, improve how they manage their conditions.
Xu plans to refine the algorithms used to differentiate the foods to improve Auto Dietary's ability to recognize what is being eaten.
While promising, a
wearable necklace that measures sound has limitations when used alone. For
example, it cannot differentiate similar foods such as frosted corn flakes and
regular corn flakes. It also cannot distinguish the ingredients of complex
foods such as soup or chili.
To address these limitations, Xu is planning a bio-monitoring device which would complement Auto Dietary.
The bio-monitor would then determine the nutritional value of the food via blood sugar levels and other measurements.
The system then gathers and presents this information on Smartphone, while providing suggestions on healthier eating.
The study was published in the IEEE Sensors Journal.
Posts
