Tel Aviv-based Consumer Physics has created an impressive product, one that comes straight out of science fiction. Called SCiO, it is a pocket-sized spectrometer that has managed to surpass $2 million in a crowd-funding campaign at Kickstarter that asked for “just” $200,000. More than 10,000 backers joined the likes of Khosla Ventures, Dov Moran (Comingo founder, flash drive inventor) and other angel investors, which brought more than $5 million to the company.

SCiO is a pocket-sized spectrometer that can tell users the chemical makeup of what they eat, including nutritional information like calories, carbs, sugars and more.The $200 device can tell users the chemical makeup of what they eat, including nutritional information like calories, carbs, sugars and more. In addition, it can also “handle” non-food items, and eventually determine if some product is real or fake based on its ingredients.

SCiO includes a light source that illuminates the sample and a spectrometer (an optical sensor) that collects the light reflected from the sample, which is what helps it determine the item’s molecular makeup.

SCiO includes a light source that illuminates the sample and a spectrometer (an optical sensor) that collects the light reflected from the sample, which is what helps it determine the item’s molecular makeup.After scanning, the device communicates with a mobile app via Bluetooth, which forwards the lookup to a cloud-based service for review only to show the information requested few seconds afterwards.

Aside from the petite scanner, Consumer Physics is also offering a platform for developers who would be able to build custom applications using its technology. For instance, companies could “train” the SCiO to monitor the various stages of the brewing process or they could teach it to identify various plastics to help with recycling.

Sounds futuristic yet it’s (almost) here. 😉

[Via: TechCrunch]