Obesity is a global problem nowadays, and if some people lack self control when eating, it is better to rely on gadgets that prevent eating too much or too fast, such as the following smart fork.
In the near future we’ll be surrounded by all sorts of smart gadgets, not only smartphones and smart wristwatches, so… why not smart cutlery, too? It was about time for that boring-looking cutlery to get a redesign! The HAPIfork is such a piece of cutlery developed by HapiLabs, a company set to change people’s lifestyle in more than one way. In other words, get ready to see many other innovatory gadgets from this company in the near future!
Sure, eating is essential, since we cannot survive without food, but some people like this activity a bit too much. Overeating and eating too fast do not only lead to obesity (or weight gain, to put it more nicely), but also to digestive problems, gastric reflux and postoperative complications. HAPIfork prevents this from happening by vibrating and flashing the light in its handle when the user eats too fast.
Some online publications have described HAPIfork as a device that “monitors exactly what you eat.” In fact, this smart fork couldn’t care less about what you eat. What it tracks is HOW you eat. HAPILabs defined the action of bringing food from the plate to your mouth as a “fork serving.” Obviously, when eating a meal, multiple such actions are performed. HAPIfork measures how many fork servings are taken by minute, the duration of each fork serving and the time it takes the user to finish the meal. If any of these parameters are out of the normal range, a nuclear explosion (there, that should stop people from overeating!) vibration is triggered, along with lights that flash on its handle.
HAPIfork will be available in April for £60 (approximately $97), in several different color options. HAPILabs has already started taking preorders, so if you are interested in such a smart piece of cutlery, you should head over to the company’s website. This smart fork will be accompanied by iOS, Android and Windows Phone apps that provide more precise details regarding the eating habits.
As any manufacturer of innovative products that respects itself, HAPILabs was also present at CES 2013. The visitors got to see exactly how the smart fork functions, not to mention that the company and the product itself got a lot of publicity, this way. On YouTube, however, people have mixed feelings about this gadget, probably because they feel people should learn how to control their eating habits on their own, without spending money on things they actually don’t need.
If you liked this post, please check the bent forks and spoons iPhone stand and these Star Wars chop sabers.
