Japan mobile phone app takes photos, counts calories
Dieters, take heart. A new weapon in the fight against fat is on its way: a mobile phone application that counts calories from a photograph of what’s on your plate.
While existing applications require users to type in the food and the calorie information themselves, software developed by Japan’s NTT Communications evaluates the color and shapes of food, then compares it with a database and counts the calories.
Information on about 100,000 different foods is stored on a server run by the company and can be accessed by smartphone. The application even registers portion size and adjusts the count accordingly.
“We hope this will enable people to understand the calories they eat and help them with their diets,” said a spokeswoman for the company, a subsidiary of communications giant Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation (NTT).
You better watch out because you know that now, even your mobile phone can secretly judge you. And don’t even start on the potential Facebook applications for these calorie counting shenanigans.
For the past decade and a half I have been making all my content available for free (and never behind a paywall) as an ongoing practice of ephemeral publishing. This site is no exception. If you wish to help offset my labor costs, you can donate on Paypal or you can subscribe to Patreon where I will not be putting my posts behind a lock but you'd be helping me continue making this work available for everyone. Thank you. Follow me on Twitter for new post updates.