New machine paves approach for expertise to ease day by day meals, beverage monitoring for seniors, chronically in poor health
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ORONO — College of Maine researchers invented a tool that might function a launchpad for brand spanking new expertise to ease day by day monitoring of meals and beverage intake for seniors and other people with persistent well being stipulations.
SipBit, created by way of Nimesha Ranasinghe, an assistant professor of spatial computing, and Chamath Amarasinghe, a Ph.D. scholar of spatial data science and engineering, can pinpoint beverage sort, quantity and sugar content material as soon as submerged in liquid. The machine, educated to acknowledge those characteristics via a chain of deep finding out algorithms, can establish them by way of the usage of electric impedance measurements over a spread of frequencies of a drink.
Electric impedance is the opposition presented to the electrical present — transferring charged debris like electrons— by way of an object. A given set of measurements of {an electrical} impedance correlates with a selected beverage trait, corresponding to whether or not it’s tea, espresso or soda.
SipBit applies a identified electrical pulse throughout 1000’s of frequencies after which measures the impedances throughout the drink, a technique referred to as electric impedance spectroscopy. After accumulating a couple of units of measurements, SipBit analyzes them to spot the bodily and chemical houses of a beverage, in particular what form of drink it’s and its quantity and sugar content material.
Many seniors and other people with strict diets, together with those that have most cancers, middle and kidney sicknesses, diabetes and different stipulations, must manually report day by day what they devour and drink intimately to assist keep their well being, which Ranasinghe says may also be tedious, time eating and open to miscalculation. He and Amarasighe hope to give a boost to the expertise in SipBit to spot much more characteristics, corresponding to sodium (i.e., salt), carbohydrates, protein, and spice content material, and report it on gadgets like computer systems and smartphones to relieve their burden. They then hope to broaden cutlery and drinkware which are supplied with SipBit.
Watch the video about SipBit produced by way of the Multisensory Interactive Media Lab to be told extra.
“We’re ranging from this basis,” Ranasinghe says. “Our subsequent step is to discover other programs and create a wise cup or tumbler the place other people can mechanically report their calorie consumption intimately and actual time.”
SipBit differs from different expertise designed to spot quite a lot of facets of meals and drinks by way of the usage of electric impedance spectroscopy as an alternative of examining photos of what other people devour and drink sooner than and after foods.
Amarasinghe and Ranasinghe say different gadgets have issues as it should be distinguishing drinks of the similar colour and figuring out their quantity and different interior attributes. As an example, they’ll fight to decide whether or not a espresso was once a dismal or medium roast or how a lot is the sugar content material of the drink.
“Thru electric impedance, we will be able to acknowledge other beverage varieties and characteristics in accordance with other signatures; as an example, a cup of Pepsi as opposed to a cup of Coca Cola,” Amarasinghe says.
Ranasinghe’s analysis essentially specializes in replicating culinary reviews by way of simulating tastes, smells and different senses via multisensory augmented truth and different applied sciences. His innovations have earned awards and nationwide acclaim. A few of his well-liked gadgets come with the Digital Cocktail, or Vocktail, Virtual Lollipop and Digital Lemonade.
Ranasinghe says SipBit builds on his earlier analysis as a result of having sensory expertise that may discover and acquire information on other meals or beverage characteristics will assist invent new gadgets to simulate the ones reviews. He says he in the end hopes to broaden a digital house the place other people can percentage simulated meals and drinks all over the world.
“We will supply new alternatives for human-food interactions,” Ranasinghe says. “One power I’ve is determining how we will be able to upload those unexplored senses — scent and style — into our applied sciences. SipBit is a part of a larger puzzle of long term human-food virtual interactions as a result of if you wish to incorporate new senses, it’s important to invent expertise that may simulate them, sense them and acquire information on them.”