We already have smart TVs (Samsung leads the charge), as well as smart ovens, smart laundry and smart vacuum (all coming from LG in 2013). Heck, we’re increasingly wearing app-enabled smart watches around our wrist (we’re looking at you, Apple). It really is no surprise then that gadget makers now expect we’ll monitor our eating habits using a ‘smart’ fork?
Enter the Hapifork from Hapilabs, an unusual app-enabled accessory coming this Spring to “greatly improve your digestion”, up to the point where “you’ll likely start losing weight”. I’m not entirely convinced science exists to back that claim…
Okay, so it has in-built sensors that monitor the fork’s movement from plate to mouth to measure how long it took to eat your meal, the amount of so-called ‘fork servings’ taken per minute and intervals between fork servings.
The pitch basically comes down to this: should you eat your lunch too fast, the gadget will vibrate.
But what’s too fast, you ask?
According to the company, if there are fewer than ten seconds between forkfuls, the Hapifork kicks into action.
Of course Hapiforks come in happy colors, did you think otherwise?
Now, you’ll be initially required to manually download your dining data to a computer after each meal, but a Bluetooth version is in the works, a spokesperson has confirmed.
Your data also gets uploaded to an online dashboard and there’s a coaching program designed to help you change your eating behavior.
Eating too fast is a leading cause of weight gain, says Hapilabs and points out that an accompanying iOS and Android app should help develop healthier eating habits over time.
Your stomach needs 20 min to tell your brain you’ve eaten enough. Will a “smart” fork help you eat less?on.mktw.net/118Awmc #2013CES
— Kelli B. Grant (@kelligrant) January 7, 2013
Would-be slow eaters can check out the Hapifork now over at the Hapilabs web store.
Here’s a nice hands-on video by The Verge.
The ultimate gadget for the ultimate epicurean geek retails for a rather pricey hundred bucks and is available in the USB and Bluetooth flavor, the former shipping during Q2 and the latter arriving some time in Q3 2013.
According to a 2011 study in The Journal of Nutrition, no definite proof exists that people who eat their dinner more slowly also reduce their habit of grabbing a snack shortly after the meal.
The Hapifork is nice, but what if you like finger food?