‘smart plate’ shown with cupcake, part of hannes harm’s ‘nutrismart’ system

‘nutrismart’, a concept and prototype developed by german born, london-based industrial designer hannes harms, is designed to provide easy access to nutritional information as well as track the food supply chain by embedding RFID tags directly into food products.

the prototype uses edible RFID tags, first developed by kodak for medical monitoring, in conjunction with a specially designed ‘smart plate’ which integrates an RFID reader into its underside. when food is placed on the plate, the nutritional information and other data is sent via bluetooth to laptops, smartphones, or other mobile devices. a small LED laid below the plate’s veneer illuminates to warn of important information, for example that the preprepared dish contains a particular allergen.

already useful for diet management and allergy control, the ‘nutrismart’ system could also be integrated with RFID-ready refrigerators to keep track of food expiration and offer automated shopping lists. harms also hopes that the entire supply chain can be tracked and made available to consumers by embedding within the RFID tags information about the origins and journey of the food product.

video overview of the ‘nutrismart’ concept

hannes harms: nutrismart system an RFID reader hidden in the plate sends information to mobile devices, planned to be wirelessly (although the prototype is wired)

hannes harms: nutrismart system the information display can show nutritional info (left) or background information and life cycle info (right)

hannes harms: nutrismart system view of the underside of the ‘smart plate’ with embedded RFID reader

via engadget