Good News For Fitness Freaks: 'SmartPlate' Counts Calories

Inventors of the new SmartPlate claim the plastic dish can accurately calculate the calorie count of the food placed on it. According to the inventors, the plastic dish is the first “intelligent plate” able to perform such a task.

The SmartPlate, a product developed by U.S. startup called Fitly, has three digital cameras on it. The cameras photograph the food on the plate, then transfer the photos to a mobile device with the help of WiFi or Bluetooth.

The images of the food are then compared to the database of a larger picture available over the Internet, to help identify the food items on the plate. According to The Times, a hidden scale fitted on the SmartPlate calculates the weight of the food and then matches it against an online calorie-count database.

"Our proprietary food-recognition algorithm is trained to read mixed foods as well as single food items with up to 99 percent accuracy in less than a second," said Anthony Ortiz, Fitly's founder and chief executive. "Currently, our technology can identify things like mixed salads, rice pilaf, spaghetti with meatballs and turkey wraps."

Based on the weight of the food consumed from the plate, the SmartPlate also warns users if they are eating too quickly. The device also makes recommendations for what a person should be eating or avoiding.

Fitly has recently started a campaign to raise funds to produce the first run of SmartPlates. The early contributors will get a chance to buy the SmartPlate at $99, as compared to the fixed retail price of $199.

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