SCiO: A tiny scanner that can check the nutritional value of the food you are about to eat

London: What if you can get the nutritional value of an apple or a watermelon by just scanning it with a hand-held device?

Move over Google to search for your medication. A hand-held scanner - about the size of a flash drive - can determine the molecular makeup of objects like food and medication.

Developed by Consumer Physics, a Tel Aviv-based start up in Israel, the scanner called SCiO emits a beam of light, which you can shine on, say, a piece of fruit.

"The device will then connect to a smart phone app that reveals the nutritional breakdown of that piece of fruit," Dror Sharon, co-founder of Consumer Physics, was quoted as saying in wired.com.

The SCiO app uses an algorithm to compare digital signature to its entire database and provide the end user with the object's molecular breakdown.

People can analyse plants, foods and medication using the Scio app.

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