Analog Devices, Inc. (ADI) and Consumer Physics, Inc. (CP) announced a collaboration to develop a sensor-to-cloud personal and industrial Internet of Things platform that analyzes liquids and solids, including food, plants, drugs, chemicals, the human body, and a variety of other materials.

CP has a product called SCiO, which is a handheld sensor that scans the molecular fingerprint of physical matter and instantly provides useful information about its chemical makeup, and the two companies plan to embed this technology into smartphones, wearables, industrial, and medical applications. This co-developed sensor-to-cloud platform will allow users to quickly and reliably detect substances as well as control quality, and measure a wide range of characteristics such as calories, fat, sugars, and proteins; sugar content in fruits and vegetables; alcohol content in beverages; and chemical compositions of fuel and oil.

“ADI and CP share a vision to enable our customers to interpret the world around us,” said Martin Cotter, vice president, Internet of Things, Analog Devices. “Together we plan to make secure, reliable and robust material analysis power-efficient and affordable for use virtually everywhere in order to make the world safer and healthier.”

The tech, democratized

The underlying science behind SCiO is the Near-Infra-Red (NIR) Spectroscopy which has been used in laboratories around the world for decades in diverse industries such as food, pharmaceuticals, agriculture, healthcare, oil and gas, plastics, cosmetics, geology, mineralogy, and many more.

SCiO – Scanning cheese

NIR Spectroscopy is based on the principle that each type of molecule vibrates in a unique way and interact with light to create a unique signature, which is identified by using an optical sensor and signal conditioning electronics. Advanced algorithms utilize an updatable database to analyze the spectrum and deliver information about the analyzed sample back to the user in real time.

The SCiO Developer Kit is available immediately and will help interested developers build custom applications. SCiO Eco-System Partners can develop smartphone and wearables experiences now using the SCiO Developer Kit.

Current devices are large and expensive, making them unfit for current and future IoT applications. By incorporating this type of technology to everyday items, this advanced technology becomes more ubiquitous and accessible at the consumer level.

Based on this collaborative tech, we’ve pulled up some potential use cases and business opportunities for SCiO users.

Use cases

Allergen detection

People with severe food allergies know how one bite, or even one touch, could result in life threatening situations. If SCiO gets incorporated into smartphones, a device that is widely available, then it would be easier for people to detect and avoid substances that can trigger their allergies.

Diet aid

SCiO is able to detect the composition of food and using the accompanying app, so those watching their diet will be able to know values such as calories, fat, carbohydrates, and proteins, among other things. This will help users know how much of something they should consume if they are trying to lose or gain weight.

Medication authentication

Some medications look similar, but have very different functions, and it’s quite easy to mix things up. Imagine handling hundreds of medications the way a pharmacist does? This could greatly help in preventing the ingestion of the wrong medicine, as an individual can easily and quickly analyze the tiniest pill using their smartphone or smartwatch.

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