Im2Calorie: New Google App Will Tell You How Many Calories Are In Your Latest Food Photos

Google has unveiled that they are working on a new app that will be able to calculate the number of calories in a dish by simply analyzing a still photo of the food item. The app is called Im2Calorie and will use specialized algorithms to estimate the number of calories in a plate of food that the user photographed. Surprisingly, the photo does not have to be high resolution. The program designers say it will work with a simple Instagram photo.

Popular Science reports that new app was discussed at the Rework Deep Learning Summit in Boston. A Google research scientist, Kevin Murphy, unveiled the app and discussed how the app will function for the user. The Im2Calorie app will take a still photo of a plate of food and use “sophisticated deep learning algorithms” to identify what items of food are on the plate. The app will then calculate and estimate the calories in the dish photographed.

Interestingly, the app will not only identify what type of food is on the plate, but the actual quantities of food as well.

“In one example, the system looked at an image, and counted two eggs, two pancakes and three strips of bacon. Since those aren’t exactly universal units of measurement, the system gauged the size of each piece of food, in relation to the plate, as well as any condiments.”

Therefore, it seems that the app not only is able to notify the user of the products in the image, but will also be able to estimate the portion size of each item as well. Murphy notes that the app is designed to allow people to calculate nutritional value without having to input a bunch of variables or scan bar codes. Instead, the app will automate the process and make it easier for users to keep an accurate food diary. The hope is that after consumers start using the app, it will become more accurate as kinks are worked out of the system. For example, if the app identifies a fried egg as a poached egg, the user would be able to manually go in and change the variable for a more accurate reading. However, over time, the company would be able to take that user data and make the app more accurate.

This could lead to a food diary app that requires little to no input, other than the photo, from the user. Since many people already upload “food porn” photos online, the diary could be the next step to maintaining a thorough and detailed nutritional diary for the end consumer.

What do you think about the potential for an app that can calculate calories based on a still photo? Would you use the Im2Calorie app?

[Image Credit: Getty Images/ Archive]