How cool would it be if you could scan a piece of fruit and find out not only if it’s organic, but all its nutritional information so that you could, for example, be sure that you’re buying the sweetest watermelon on display? What about if you could scan your drink to be sure it wasn’t spiked, or scan your pill to make sure it’s actually what it claims to be? Better yet, who wouldn’t want to scan their skin and know exactly what products they need? Thanks to a new start-up, all of this seems like it won’t be far off. Come October, Consumer Physics will be launching the world’s first portable molecular sensor, SCIO, and if it works the way they claim, $250 is a bargain – at least for someone as curious about their environment as I am.
When the device launched through a Kickstarter campaign, it reached its target funding within 24 hours (back then you were able to get one of the devices for as little as $149). I’m not a science person so I don’t fully understand how the technology works, but the basic is that it uses spectrometry to read the molecular fingerprint of an object (the device shines a near infra-Red light on the object of your choosing that stimulates the molecules and then records their reactions).
Among those behind the new device are Harvard and MIT grads and while the technology isn’t new, it’s the first time it’s being used for consumer purposes in such a small device. While I haven’t used it myself as it has yet to launch, it has been tested in live demonstrations with high accuracy. At least I now will have one reason not to be too sad once summer is over… I can’t wait to try this out! Pre-order it here.
