SMARTPHONES – SMART EATING?

Abstract

Currently, all around us, smartphones have become ubiquitous. One obvious question is if and how such
devices could help us get healthier eating habits? The answer, based on novel technologies (e.g., advanced sensing and
signal processing), is that smartphones or tablets can very easily help us check not only food quantity intake, but also
food quality (e.g., freshness, chemical compounds, etc.). In this paper we will briefly survey various techniques allowing
us to analyse food quality using these devices. We will start by firstly enumerating the main components of mobile cameras
and sensors. Afterwards, we will briefly review nutrition analysis software. Towards the end, we will stress the importance
high-performance image recognition techniques play for reaching a compelling answer to our question if we are eating
smart or not yet?