SmartPlate counts your calories and nutrition effortlessly
PHILADELPHIA -- We have smart everythings these days - smart phones, watches, TVs.
And now, a young Philadelphia entrepreneur is taking that technology to your dinner table.
Anthony Ortiz hopes America will also want a SmartPlate.
It's the first "wired" food plate.
"It instantly tracks and analyzes everything a consumer eats," says Ortiz.
Three digital cameras take images of what's on each section of the plate, while sensors underneath weigh it.
The information is sent via WiFi to a database of more than 300,000 foods.
The calories and other nutritional elements are calculated and sent back to an app in your smartphone.
Ortiz and his team say food is identified by color, shape, and texture.
And cameras can see differences such as fried versus grilled chicken.
"It can recognize food with up to 99.7% accuracy," he says.
The database expands, as users upload details on what *they're eating, at home and away.
Although a prime use is for weight loss, Ortiz believes SmartPlate can help people watching macronutrients - athletes can check their protein, and diabetics can monitor their carbohydrates.
It will even warn you if you're eating too much.
"(If) You've gone over on your carbohydrates, please remove 2 tablespoons from tray C," says Ortiz.
Ortiz wanted to make a device that would reconcile the difference between food nutrition labels and what people actually consume.
He says both SmartPlate, and Fitly, his healthy meal delivery service, were inspired by his father's heart disease.
Ortiz believes poor diet was a factor, but a tool like SmartPlate could help others get on a healthier track.
"We just want to be there when they're ready," saud Ortiz.
Ortiz used crowdfunding to get SmartPlate going and just on Sunday he reached his goal.
A SmartPlate will cost $199 with the first shipment going out next summer.
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