This foodie startup uses AI and food photos to estimate calories in meals

Many people today can't resist snapping beautifully artistic photos of their meals, from the simple morning smoothie to that deliciously sinful sticky toffee pudding. But what if you could instantly find out how many calories you're about to consume as well? Boston-based startup AVA has launched an "intelligent eating" service that allows you to take a photo of your meal, send it to AVA via text and instantly receive nutritional and caloric information about your grub with the help of artificial intelligence and nutritionists. "We wanted to provide an easier way for people to track what they're eating and provide them with really personalised recommendations from a health coach based on what their specific needs are," co-founder and CMO of AVA, Jeanne Connon told IBTimes UK. "AVA uses artificial intelligence to assist nutritionists in estimating calories as well as making recommendations, factoring in historical eating habits, diet patterns, location and behavioural analysis against a database of roughly 50,000 meals." The team has not disclosed exactly how the AI-powered technology works since the service is still in private beta mode.