This week’s SmartDevice roundup features sensors and gadgets to keep our tummies full and us safe from food allergens and spoiled food, as well as letting us know if we drank enough water for the day.

Edible silk sensors

Scientists at Tufts University engineered an edible, flexible, silk sensor that alerts people is food is about to go bad or has already gone bad, to prevent food poisoning.  It works like a sticker so you can adhere it on food, have it float in milk or any perishable liquid, on eggs and even fruits and vegetables.

It is made up of gold antennae, as thin as that gold leaf stuff found on fancy desserts, embedded in a purified silk film support that is made up of pure protein, making it edible.  Let’s say the sensor is placed on the skin of a banana.  As it ripens, chemical changes occur which alters the firmness of the fruit.  The change in the firmness of the banana is detected by the sensor and emits a different electromagnetic signal when monitored with a reader.  The sensors can be altered depending on the kind of food you want to monitor.  As for the monitor, it can be something that can be fitted on to your refrigerator or smartphone.

The Insider

There are apps on smartphones that makes it easier to create grocery lists, but some people still prefer writing lists on paper, while others trust that their brains can remember what they need to buy.

David Lent invented The Insider, a device that looks a bit like a milk bottle, that is fitted with an HD cam’s wide anti-fog lens to take photos inside your fridge whenever you open it.  The purpose of this device is  to keep track of the things inside your fridge so you don’t have to make a list.  It’s still a concept, so the marketable piece will probably have more functions, like being able to order items that are running low, or even help you stick to your diet.

The Insider takes a photo and transmits it to your smartphone which you can access via the Wink app.

Jomi

Did you know that in order to stay properly hydrated you have to drink about 2.7L of water daily if you’re female, and 3.7L if you’re male?  Staying hydrated is vital to keep your body functioning well and to help flush out toxins.  Though the act of drinking water seems to be a simple task, many of us fail to drink even a liter of water a day because we don’t monitor it.

Jomi Interactive has developed a two devices; the Jomi Band which slips around a water bottle and flashes lights or sends push notifications to your smartphone to remind you it’s time to hydrate, and the Jomi Sleeve, which goes at the bottom of the water container that not only reminds you to drink, but it also weighs the bottle to determine if you’re consuming enough water.

You can check your progress via your online dashboard or smartphone app.