Wellness & Healthy Living

HAPIfork smart fork hits Kickstarter

HAPIfork smart fork hits Kickstarter
HAPIfork is a smart fork designed to help you stop eating so much and so quickly
HAPIfork is a smart fork designed to help you stop eating so much and so quickly
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HAPIfork smart fork comes with a free smartphone app to track your eating habits
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HAPIfork smart fork comes with a free smartphone app to track your eating habits
HAPIfork can be treated like any other fork, meaning it's dishwasher safe
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HAPIfork can be treated like any other fork, meaning it's dishwasher safe
HAPIfork is a smart fork designed to help you stop eating so much and so quickly
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HAPIfork is a smart fork designed to help you stop eating so much and so quickly
The HAPIfork dashboard includes all of the data the smart fork collects about your eating habits
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The HAPIfork dashboard includes all of the data the smart fork collects about your eating habits
HAPIfork comes in a range of lurid colors
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HAPIfork comes in a range of lurid colors
HAPIfork is a smart fork designed to help you stop eating so much and so quickly
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HAPIfork is a smart fork designed to help you stop eating so much and so quickly
View gallery - 6 images

HAPILABS' HAPIfork is a "smart fork" designed to monitor your eating habits. The motivation behind its creation is that eating more slowly is better for your health and your ability to stay (or get) slim. The concept gained a great deal of press attention at the beginning of the year when it was one of the stars of CES 2013 and now it's arrived on Kickstarter in an effort to raise US$100,000 to fund its initial product launch.

Many of us really don't pay attention to the speed at which we eat. As it takes around 20 minutes for the brain to register that your appetite has been properly satiated, fast eaters often overeat, and then feel full and bloated when their brain finally catches up with their stomach. As we're seemingly not capable of regulating our own eating speed, the HAPIfork has been designed to do it for us, measuring the number of servings eaten per minute and per meal, the interval between servings, and the duration of each meal.

The HAPIfork dashboard includes all of the data the smart fork collects about your eating habits
The HAPIfork dashboard includes all of the data the smart fork collects about your eating habits

Once HAPIfork has compiled the data it becomes available to view through the online dashboard, both on a computer and an iPhone or Android phone. This is all achieved by the electronics embedded in the HAPIfork, which includes a vibration pack, LEDs, a battery pack, and a capacitive detection sensor located in the prongs. HAPILABS says that HAPIfork can be used just like a normal fork, able to withstand everyday mishaps, and be cleaned in a dishwasher. More details about the HAPIfork and how it works can be found in our previous coverage of the concept.

HAPIfork comes in a range of lurid colors
HAPIfork comes in a range of lurid colors

To pre-order a HAPIfork will cost US$89 (with 2500 units being produced at this price). A slightly higher $99 price has been set for when HAPIfork goes on sale to the general public. This is expected to happen in Q4 2013, with an initial launch limited to the US and Europe.

The video below is the HAPIfork Kickstarter pitch, with some background information on the product's origins.

Source: Kickstarter

Hapifork, the Smart Fork, is available on Kickstarter

View gallery - 6 images
3 comments
3 comments
Arahant
I think this is a good idea, i think the next step would to create other pieces of technology to help, for instance like a plate that also weighed your food, you input what food is on it and figure a way for it to make rough calculations on what weighs what and how much calories/fat/protein is in it etc.. there are alot of people in different situations who try and calculate what they eat like this, having a set of eating relating items like this fork, special plate, maby a salt shaker that measures how many times you shake it, the list could go on, not everyone would buy it of course but i think there is enough of a market to make it worthwhile, especialy worldwide.
If they all worked together and were able to link up to your smartphone wirelessly, i think that would be a winner!
Karl L
This has to be one of the biggest wastes of brain power I have ever seen. Really we need an electronic device to tell us how fast we are eating? I had to double check it wasn't April 1st again and was getting fooled by a gag article. If you are pay $99 for a fork to tell you at what speed to eat at you have too much cash. Donate the money to your local food bank or something else worthy of assistance.
Tim Lee
The idea of timing your meal length to help you eat slower is a good idea. Eating slower has been shown to help people eat less. And people are terrible judges of time.
However, a $99 fork that you have to carry around with you is foolish. What about chips and soup? Oh, just buy the $99 HAPIspoon.
Let's be real. You're not going to carry nearly $200 worth of utensils around with you.
There's a far better alternative. It's the "Eat Slow Lose Weight" iPhone app. Because you'll always have your smart phone on you. And it turns slow eating into a video game!