Want to know which cantaloupe is sweeter, whether that chicken is fresh, or what’s in that bagel? Just whip out a new pocket-sized molecular sensor, aim it at the item and instantly see its quality, ripeness and nutritional value. Quickly analyze the molecular levels of foods, plants, medicines, and more, with results sent straight to your smart phone for review. SCiO puts molecular scanning at your fingertips.
“In the last 10 years or so, we’ve all gotten used to having an instant ‘search button’ in our pocket that lets us know where we are on a map, book a table at a restaurant, listen to a song in a different language and buy it and translate it,” says Consumer Physics cofounder Dror Sharon, who describes his role as “CEO and Chief Happiness Officer.” SCiO lets you skip the typed-in search words. Just point and click, and an instant analysis occurs in cloud technology – read the results on your phone.
Co-founders Damian Goldring and Dror Sharon launched Consumer Physics in 2011 with a goal to develop a pocket-sized molecular scanner that was both technologically practical and a pleasing consumer experience. Their sensor, a tiny spectrometer, allows you to get instant relevant information about the chemical make-up of just about anything.
“The power in our pockets is phenomenal, but one piece is missing, and that’s information about the things in our physical world – everything from food to medicine to fuel. That’s the basic need we’re trying to answer,” Sharon told ISRAEL21c.
SCio comes loaded with several apps divided into product categories, such as dairy foods, produce and pharmaceuticals. Sharon believes the possibilities are endless, and other apps are in development. As example, the sensor could detect the properties of gemstones, or the calorie count of restaurant entrees.
Right now – straight from the box – the devices can:
– Provide nutritional facts about different foods: salad dressings, fruits, vegetables and dairy products. (Other apps for drinks, meats, ripeness, and more are being developed as their database expands.)
– Get instant information about your cooking oil
– Assess the overall health of popular plants.
– Authenticate medications or supplements.
– Upload and tag the spectrum of almost any material on earth to our database, even yourself!
“We will supply apps that are going to tell you some useful information about your physical world, and we expect it to grow over time as we see how people use SCiO,” said Sharon. They are targeting a market that doesn’t yet exist , and are relying on consumers to suggest more uses.
“Every time you use SCiO you will be helping to build a database of knowledge about the stuff around us,” says Sharon. “The bigger our community gets, the more data SCiO will have about different materials and this goes right back to our community of users.” His OurCrowd partner David Stark added, “This has major implications for commerce, health and scientific research.” Learn more about the device in the video below:
[youtube]http://youtu.be/UIFyAOD_E3E[/youtube]
Consumer Physics won early development funding from strategic investors such as portable storage innovator Dov Moran and through the Jerusalem-based OurCrowd funding platform. Last summer the raised nearly $3 million USD (against a target of $200,000) from nearly 13,000 backers – one of the most successful Kickstarter campaigns in history.
SCiO is sold via Consumer Physics’ ecommerce platform worldwide. In July, they will begin shipping pre-orders (already arriving from customers in countries including Iraq and Afghanistan) priced at $249. Retail sales will follow.
Sharon predicts that within a decade, users will take molecular scanning for granted to the same degree as they now take mobile phone cameras for granted.
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