Scientists have developed a device that can scan physical objects like food, medicine, plants and other materials to instantly display information about the object being scanned on a smartphone. Created by the company Consumer Physics, the device is called the SCiO, and their Kickstarter crowd funding website has already received more than 2 million dollars in support, making them the fifth most funded technological project to ever use the website.

Scientists have developed a device that can scan physical objects like food, medicine, plants and other materials and instantly display information about it on a Bluetooth connected smartphone app.

Created by the company Consumer Physics, the device is called the SCiO, and their Kickstarter crowd funding website has already received more than 2 million dollars in support,making them the fifth most funded technological project to ever use the website, and their campaign is not over yet.

The pocket sized spectrometer works as a molecular scanning device that can read the chemical content of the object being scanned.

For example, it can scan food and instantly display the nutritional information like the carbohydrate, calorie, and sugar content.

Using a light source and a spectrometer or optical sensor, the device analyzes the light reflected off the object, which can then be used to determine the molecular content.

According to the SCiO Kickstarter page: “The physical basis for this material analysis method is that each type of molecule vibrates in its own unique way, and these vibrations interact with light to create its own unique optical signature.”