Personal Spectrometer

A new gadget called SCiO gives users the ability to ascertain the chemical makeup of foods, drugs, and just about anything else you come into contact with, in a matter of seconds. About the size of a thumb drive, it uses near infra-red spectrometry to analyze the unique molecular vibrations that are given off when a substance is exposed to light.

Simply point the device at an object and it reads the chemical structure. It then sends the information wirelessly to your smartphone (iOS or Android), where it’s uploaded to a server to be analyzed. Advanced signal processing algorithms compare the data to an ever-growing “database of matter” to determine the molecular fingerprint and display the information on the downloadable app.

The device is currently limited to a few key applications that touch our everyday lives – food, pharmaceuticals and horticulture. For example, it can analyze the sugar, fat and calorie content of a smoothie, or authenticate the chemical composition of medications. It can even tell you how healthy your plants are and whether they need water. Users can also help expand the database (and therefore the future capabilities of SCiO) by uploading and tagging the spectra of other materials.

Kickstarter campaign backers are scheduled to begin receiving scanner shipments as early as December 2014.