Watch-like Device Tracks How Much You Eat by Wrist-Rolls, Is Easily Duped
A new device to help people keep track of their eating (presumably for dieters, not just obsessive diarists) actually counts the number of bites you put in your mouth by tracking your wrist motion.
Developed at Clemson University in South Carolina, the Bite Counter straps on like a watch and tracks a particular type of wrist-roll associated with putting food in your all-consuming maw. The researchers describe it as being like a pedometer for eating, and told the Daily Mail that “bite count can be used as a proxy for caloric count.”
Now, I’m no scientist (sorry, mom!), but last time I checked, my wrist-roll full of bacon-wrapped hot dog was a whole lot more caloric than my wrist-roll with a kale chip. Not to mention all those times no wrist-rolls occur in the act of eating! Any straw-based foods (slurpees, smoothies, milkshakes) can’t be tracked, and the act of tilting an entire bag of cheesy popcorn into my mouth doesn’t involve much wrist action at all–only labored breathing, a layer of cheddar dust on my shirt, and lasting shame.
But, if the success of that weird plate we once wrote about that yells at you for eating too fast is any indication, it seems like any digital tracking makes people more self-conscious about eating, so the Bite Counter might just nag its way to a healthier you. And with an $800 price tag, odds are you’ll end up cutting the grocery budget just to pay for the thing. Thanks, Bite Counter!
[via NY Daily News]