A USB-powered fork for dieters

Can this USB-powered electric fork save you from the habit of overeating?

 

HAPIfork, which works like an electric toothbrush, monitors the user's eating and vibrates in his or her mouth if he or she takes too many bites, tech site Mashable reported.

 

"It uploads its info to an app via Bluetooth or to your laptop via USB, giving you a nice graph of the number of bites you took over time during each meal," it said.

 

Mashable said the fork is available for pre-order via Kickstarter, at $89 for the first 2,500 Kickstarter users to fund the manufactuer HAPILABS.

 

It will then be available at retail for $99.

 

The fork uses capacitive sensors to detect the presence of a user's mouth, and its sensors detect electric current in the user's body.

 

The fork has a default time between bites of 10 seconds, and will vibrate when one takes bites at shorter intervals.

 

"It's not unpleasant, but it is noticeable and unusual enough for your brain to decide to avoid it next time. A gentle nudge, not an electric shock," it said.

 

But Mashable said the fork can be tricked by "spearing something large and grabbing the food with your teeth without getting the tines near your choppers."

 

Also, it said the fork "can't tell if you've just taken a bite of salad or cheese fries."

 

Origins

 

Mashable said the device works on the theory that the slower and more mindfully one eats, "the better for your digestive system, weight and overall health."

 

It quoted French inventor Jacques Lepine as saying he thought of the fork after an incident where he thought he had a heart attack and went to a hospital for treatment.

 

"It turned out to be acid reflux from eating too fast," Mashable said. — TJD, GMA News