General Electric has developed advanced sensor technology that automatically and accurately tracks the calories of your meal. Led by Cell Biologist Matt Webster, a team of scientists at GE Global Research are developing advanced sensor technology to make estimation of dietary calories in food as simple as the touch of a button.

Although there are plenty of apps that help you track what you eat, the moslty lack of accuracy. How do you know that burger you ate match with the burger you selected using an app? GE's uses advanced sensor technology to measure the actual meal that you eat, rather than relying on an archived database of values.

The researchers discovered that calories can be faithfully estimated with just three measurements: weight, fat content and water content. They say that calorie estimation to be possible in principle, putting together devices to measure calories in different mixtures of oil, water and sugar. The devices use advanced sensor technology to estimate the fat content, water content and weight of the food in order to automatically calculate dietary calories.



Although the researchers have currently built only an early prototype, further development of this technology would result in a pushbutton device that will provide calorie content of your meal in an instant.

"I can see an activity monitor, Calorie Counter and a wireless scale all working together to allow you to monitor your calorie balance and the results on the scale; all with minimal effort on your part (except for the exercise)," Webster says for the future. "All of this data will be easily accessible on your tablet or smartphone; maybe difficulty and time will no longer be a deterrent. I can also see such a device better educating people on what they are eating."