Proposed by

Dr. Sheikh Iqbal Ahamed

Professor and Director, Ubicomp Lab, Marquette University, USA

 

We propose an innovative technology to measure food and nutrient intake which is adaptable to the context of poor and rich people. This is a combination of active and passive imaging method that will overcome the limiting factors of the existing methodologies. This novel technology will use smartphone camera for capturing the food image. Besides, we offer the technology with an external camera that is supported by Bluetooth and Wi-Fi modules. In both cases, we use the smartphone application to show the response from the user and the cloud server. The proposed system will allow the user to capture image easily whether he or she is in the kitchen, at home or at a restaurant. The user will communicate with the system interactively using voice and keypad input. The keypad will be developed on a round shaped handle in such a way that spoon handle of different sizes can be attached to it. The mobile, external camera and keypad are shown in Figure 1.

 

Since the communication will be accomplished by voice and keypad input, the user will feel free to cook or eat while the image is being captured. The mobile application will allow us to work in no internet to high speed internet. If adequate internet bandwidth is found, then the cloud based computing as well as crowdsourcing benefits will be used instantly for food identification and nutrition level measurement. On the other hand, the food name, ingredients name and volume information are to be given by the user if the mobile is out of internet facilities. In this case, the validation of the food identification and nutrient intake will be done through offline based mobile application.