Your iPhone Will Soon Detect Bad Breath

Julie188 writes "A tiny San Francisco startup, Adamant Technologies, is trying to give your iPhone a sense of smell and taste.. The company has created a computer chip that works with a bunch of tiny sensors to digitize these senses. The first app planned is a consumer device that plugs into an iPhone and detects bad breath."

Re:*my* iPhone??

[SomePgmr]

Neither do I, but I'm interested in a usable 2,000 chemical sensor package for under $100.

Re:

[jkrise]

" I'm interested in a usable 2,000 chemical sensor package for under $100."

It would come bundled with a $1,000 iPhone, with proprietary software interfaces and apps as well. Totally unusable as a sensor package for a hobbyist.

Re:

[SomePgmr]

I don't see where that's the case.

Article says a $100 add-on, and their fancy sensors-on-a-chip are meant to be used with phones, PC's, and medical devices.

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[Anonymous Coward]

Then why the fuck the headline says 'iphone'?

iPhone fist ...

[perpenso]

Article says a $100 add-on, and their fancy sensors-on-a-chip are meant to be used with phones, PC's, and medical devices.

Then why the fuck the headline says 'iphone'?

Because a sensor-on-a-chip is not a commercial product. A gizmo that plugs into a phone is. Such a gizmo targeting an iPhone may simply be the first such product. Numerous sources indicate that Android users are less prone to spend money than iPhone users so it makes sense to target iPhone first, or maybe even only. I lean towards iPhone first not iPhone only. By the time you have an iPhone product that R&D is a sunk cost and the Android version may be justified on the incremental cost to get such a ver

Re:iPhone fist ...

[ColdWetDog]

We have warned you in the past about being sensible, using correct sentences and failing to indulge in logical fallacies.

Please don't let it happen again.

Or else we shall be forced to indulge in an automobile analogy at your expense.

it's also cheaper to produce ..

[freaker_TuC]

Next to the fact, that developing for iOS is considerably cheaper in the end; which makes it a lot easier, to test a new "mobile" product.

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[SomePgmr]

Then why the fuck the headline says 'iphone'?

Because they couldn't fit the whole article in the headline. Sometimes you have to read it.

Re:

[dave.haku]

If I had to guess I would say that despite the fact that the chip capabilities could be very broad and open ended, they will market it for detecting garlic, onion and hamburgers, and you will have the option to buy "an update" to detect chocolate cake, vomit and turd.

Breath-alyzer? The first version will come hard wired not to work as such. You will have to buy version 2, twice the price, and then it will only work 3 times a month. You will be given the option to purchase the unlimited version of the app

Re:

[Anonymous Coward]

It'll need to be available for Android at a minimum to interest most people who like to tinker.

iPhones are for old people.

Re:*my* iPhone??

[thrillseeker]

Well, guess who has bad breath.

Re:

[Anonymous Coward]

Outright retarded statement. Spent the last decade in a cave?

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[DR.F33LG00D]

That statement is a total overgeneralization. It's been my experience that people who do like a ton of customization of their phone OS tend to gravitate towards Android. while people who just want something that works well out of the box have iPhones. However, your statement doesn't make sense for this article because iPhones have a very rich ecosystem of applications and hardware addons, which would be of interest to hobbyists who like to "tinker" with innovative products like the one mentioned here. I

Re:

[Tough Love]

Phones are for old people.

That's not true. I was on the train the other day and I noticed that iPhones are for girls and girly men.

Re:

[Hatta]

How long until the first Breath-iLyzer app?

Earlier app will derail Brethalizer

[goombah99]

Well they will plan to make the Brethalyzer app but instead they retire as billionaires from the $3 "rate my fart, bro" app and lose interest.

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[cavebison]

Seriously, if all phones had an alcohol breath tester built in, it would probably save a lot of lives and prevent a lot of conflict.

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[Hentes]

Somehow I don't think it will be of professional quality.

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[puto]

My nose has been detecting bad breath for the last 43 three years. Should I file a patent on nasal abilities?

Re:*my* iPhone??

[Zero__Kelvin]

"My nose has been detecting bad breath for the last 43 three years. Should I file a patent on nasal abilities?"

No, but you want to try some mouthwash.

Re:

[Anonymous Coward]

It can be used to detect alcohol too, and guess who's gonna want an app for that.

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[mlookaba]

Anyone who wants to make sure they are OK to drive.

Re:

[Anonymous Coward]

If you have to ask if you're safe to drive, the answer is no.

Sure!

[Andy Prough]

And a $2000 two-year contract for limited data, texts and phone minutes?

Re:

[PolygamousRanchKid]

Neither do I, but I'm interested in a usable 2,000 chemical sensor package for under $100.

Well, you could start with one of these: http://www.conrad.com/Voltcraft-CO-20-USB-Air-Quality-Sensor.htm?websale7=conrad-int&pi=101316 [conrad.com]

I'm about to start writing Android USB support for it, by coincidence. There's a googlable Linux driver with source available, too.

Re:

[SomePgmr]

That's neat. I'd like to see more about the device than is listed in the "details" section.

Good luck on your project, btw.

Re:*my* iPhone??

[PolygamousRanchKid]

Well, there's more here: http://www.produktinfo.conrad.com/datenblaetter/100000-124999/101316-in-01-de-VOLTCRAFT_CO20_USB_LUFTQUALITAETSFUEHLER.pdf [conrad.com]

How's your German? Otherwise . . . ask the almighty Google . . .

I have one hooked up to a mini-router, flashed with OpenWrt: http://www.amazon.com/TP-LINK-Portable-802-11n-Wireless-TL-MR3020/dp/B006DEBXD0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1357496964&sr=8-1&keywords=tp-link+mr3020 [amazon.com]

It sends messages with the MQTT protocol on to an IBM Intelligent Operations Center. I test it by blowing on it . . . to measure my bad breath(on topic) . . . or I just smoke a Cuban cigar . . . and I take it into meetings . . . when the LED turns red, the meeting has been going too long.

And I learned about the wonders of OpenWrt . . . on Slashdot . . .

Re:

[ankhank]

And for the iPhart 10 model, it'll incorporate a tiny 3-D printer that will replicate the model it detects, so you can send and receive smells.

Re:

[Stripe7]

I can not see such a sensor being too useful. A built in carbon monoxide detector would be of more use to me.

If placed near the asshole...

[Anonymous Coward]

and farted on, will it report it as a fart, or just bad breath?

Re:

[davester666]

If your case, there is no difference...

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[LocoMosquito]

If smells fishy vibration [turn ON].

Meanwhile the Russians...

[spatterson]

are handing out gum

Re:

[spatterson]

Dude, you need to get out of your mom's basement.

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[hackula]

And it all leads back to mother fucking reptilian humanoids

Simple solution to that.

[Andy Prough]

Don't drink and drive. You might live longer too.

It gives a whole new meaning to

[Andy Prough]

"he who smelt it dealt it".

Apple fanboyz don't...

[dugjohnson]

Apple fanboyz don't have bad breath...they're too cool for that.

Re:

[AmazingRuss]

That's left for the fanboids...

Bet it'll do alcohol too...

[Lorens]

portable breathalyzer App upcoming

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[sdnoob]

a lot of people need that.. but not just for driving.... for keeping them from texting, twitting or posting pics while drunk.

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[hawk]

Already exists in a phone-sized unit for about $100.

hawk

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[Lorens]

Sure, and I have one, but it's not usually in my pocket.

This is GENIUS.

[Seumas]

Get everyone to install it on the premise that "it'll help you detect if you have bad breath". Make it sensitive enough that it can also detect traces of explosives, chemicals used to produce meth and other drugs, gunpowder, and so on. When it does, call home with the geolocation of the individual and full report of chemicals detected. Maybe force it to take a few snapshots and some audio recording of the user and their surroundings, without alerting them with any type of notifications. You don't need to make citizens spy on each other, because they'll gladly spy on themselves! :D

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[SourceFrog]

Brilliant! Now every gardener and farmer can get a SWAT raid every time they throw fertilizer on their plants. Every swimming pool owner can get a SWAT raid every time they throw chlorine in their pool. Every high school chemistry teacher can get a SWAT raid .. you get the picture. Alerting drug users isn't brilliant either, it's immoral to throw someone in jail for having a few ounces of weed or whatever.

iFart ?

[Anonymous Coward]

iFart?

http://www.youtube.com/user/ifartmobile

Iphone DUI tester for novelty use only not certifi

[Joe_Dragon]

Iphone DUI tester for novelty use only not certified for cops / court use.

Iphone DUI is not to be used as guide to see if you are under the limit and cops / court ones are more accurate

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[cashman73]

For $18, I wouldn't make any bets on the reliability of this one [amazon.com],... It's probably much safer to just pay for a cab ride home ... And definitely cheaper than a DUI attorney,... ;-)

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[Rockoon]

Iphone DUI tester for novelty use only not certified for cops / court use.

It will be used for drinking games.

Bad breath?

[B2382F29]

Using an iPhone? At least I can already detect bad taste...

Re:

[ElmoGonzo]

Truly. Why else target the device to iPhone users? Especially since it will need to support old/new connectors.

Pro Tip

[JoshRosenbaum]

Pro-tip: Take care of your mouth. Brush your teeth and tongue at least twice a day. In particular get that white/yellow stuff off your tongue, including on the back of it. You may gag a bit at first, but you'll get used to it. Also, floss. 90% of issues fixed. Now garlic and other smells you are on your own.

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[Blaskowicz]

Pro-tip : garlic is very healthy, it helps your immune system, it is even so powerful it can prevent worms in a dog's shit. So, I use it as an alternative to hygiene, and it makes pasta more enjoyable.

Re:

[umghhh]

and yet majority of healthy adults would be off bad breath after what GP advised. I had numerous adventures with doctors of different type. They put things into my mouth and stomach I was not happy about and yet at the end an old physician told me the same GP seems to know - the biggest problem is your tongue. Then the food remains between your teeth. and at the edges of stone buildup on your teeth (unless you do not have any). It does miracles to keep your mouth clean. Care is needed tho as too much clean

alcohol detection

[um... Lucas]

Forget bad breath, have the thing detect alcohol on your breath so you know whether or not you're safe to drive and the thing would be a gold mine.

I mean, yes, when you're sloshed obviously you don't drive. But how many times have you been out for dinner and had a drink or two, know you're not tipsy, but still worry what you'd blow if you got pulled over. That's what I mean...

Let me know ...

[slick7]

when it can find an honest politician. Is that an oxymoron?

The Tic-Tac ROI

[HycoWhit]

So how many Tic Tac packs will this thing cost?

Does the company have any rational why I would carry this device and presumably breath mints--instead of just breath mints?

Wouldn't a sane person simply pop in a Tic Tac if they wondered about bad breath versus taking the time to connect a device and run an app?

Not a completely new idea..

[vanuda]

I personally have had this idea for about 10-15 years.. But i gave up the idea when Siemens created a small sensor for detecting "bad breath".. And said that one of the reasons was to implement it in a mobile phone so that it should be easy to carry around.. Think it was about 5-10 years ago.. See http://phys.org/news1194.html [phys.org] for one article about this.. Also mentioning "breath" as something interesting to analyze.. It will however have a great sale potential.. Salesmen really would like to know of their breath is ok before visiting a customer.. A young guy would love to know that he has a nice breath before kissing a girl for the first time..;-) Same for the girl of course..

Phone sex...

[RedHackTea]

...is about to get really interesting!

Re:

[FilmedInNoir]

No, the phone smells you, it doesn't create a smell... you know what, never mind, here's a wiki article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISmell [wikipedia.org]

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[RedHackTea]

That'd be interesting. If it can detect smells beyond human capability and with the write software, we can make it form patterns, trails, etc. like dogs. Then we can even detect if a new foreign smell has been at your house. Also, if you're lost in the woods, you could find your way back; although, there's GPS for that... This could by quite useful for diseases or high levels of Carbon Dioxide or smell your poop and determine unhealthy diet (low in iron), but I bet the hardware isn't up to snuff.

Re:

[RedHackTea]

right*

Siri: Help me! It stinks in here!

[utkonos]

Siri: You need to take a shower! It smells like balls in here! Siri: Oh my god! Cover my smell receptor! Why do you have to fart when I'm in your back pocket!

Jesus H Christ

[koan]

You useless wankers hold your hand in front of your mouth ffs.

No more drunk dials?

[rkchang]

I'm suspecting that somewhere down the line, this will be used as a breathalyzer to measure alcohol content and thus rid the world of the dreaded drunk dial.

Measuring dangerous sound would be more useful

[redlemming]

Measuring bad breath is a toy application. Some of the other applications sound more interesting and valuable to society.

Measuring (and warning users about) dangerous sound levels would be more useful, and easier to do.

Put an accurate and precise sound level meter on the IPhone, with history tracking and a mechanism to warn users when they are exposed to overly loud noise for too long.

Many nightclubs, restaurants, and bands in the USA play music way beyond the levels set by the USA federal government for u

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[Anonymous Coward]

It's probably a scam, but iPhone users are hardly full of shit. iPhone users tend to have a higher income, which means they can afford to take care of themselves.

The breath I'm worried about is from discount or prepaid phones.

Re:

[Anonymous Coward]

I like how if this comment were about linux you'd be modded down to hell by now. Bravo sir.