Is Food The Next Frontier For Image Recognition?

While most would point to home security cameras as the primary application for imaging in the smart home - just this week, after all, smart home darling Nest launched their own home security cam - there appears to be a new focus in the connected home when it comes to imaging tech: our food. Just consider: Last month it was revealed by Science that had been doing research into machine learning around food identification, and had released a new app called Im2Calories, which examines an image and attempts to quantify the amount of calories on a plate. It uses "deep learning" technology - essentially a form of machine learning. Im2Calories can draw connections between what a given piece of food looks like, and vast amounts of available caloric data." And while we're used to Google doing crazy bleeding edge stuff, they're definitely not the only ones who see cameras as a natural fit in the kitchen. Last week we learned of a new product called the June Intelligent Oven, which uses images captured from an in-oven camera to identify food and then automatically program cooking time and temperature. And then there's the SmartPlate, a new product currently on Kickstarter from Fitly that includes three cameras in the plate itself. The cameras are used to detect food quantity and type the image across a database of food and associated caloric content. Wait, a plate with cameras? How exactly does that work? CEO Anthony Ortiz told me that the cameras will be recessed within the plate on the rim. "Think about the cameras having lenses .