When you’re trying to cut calories, why keep a food diary when you can wear a piece of jewelry that does all the tracking for you? That’s a question the folks behind a new device called WearSens are attempting to answer.
The collar, currently in prototype mode, is being developed by UCLA engineers to do for eating what popular fitness accessories like Fitbits do for exercise. It tracks the vibrations of food, liquid and even smoke moving down the throat, then sends the data to an app that records daily intake.
Each food item makes a distinctive pattern when consumed, which is how the collar accurately collects data. And personalizing the device sounds pretty fun! “We ask a new wearer to eat a 3-inch Subway sandwich and then sip down a 12-ounce drink,” UCLA electrical engineer and co-developer Majid Sarrafzadeh told Popular Science.
The device can be programmed to alert you if you miss a meal or become too dehydrated — and this is where things get really crazy: If you’re trying to quit smoking, you can program it to send an alert to your doctor, friends or family if you cheat and take a puff. Awesome! Isn’t it?
