Meal Consumption Scale with Feedback-Driven Entertainment Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing meal serving equipment lacks built-in means to monitor and record food consumption amounts and calorie intake, particularly for children, leading to interruptions and lack of motivation during meals, and inadequate control over nutrition ingredients for both children and adults.
Innovation Solution
A flat profile electronic scale connected to a mobile application via Bluetooth, which tracks food consumption and provides motivational tools like paused entertainment and rewards for completing meals, while storing data in a cloud-based system for parental or individual health management.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If parents install entertainment devices like tablets or mobile phones in front of children during meals, then children's attention is engaged and meal taking becomes more attractive, but the child's attention is switched to the show for an uncontrolled amount of time and interruptions increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system continuously monitors weight changes on the scale and provides real-time feedback by pausing entertainment content when eating stops, creating a feedback loop that guides the child to continue eating to resume entertainment
Solution Approach 2:
The entertainment device serves as an intermediary between the child and the eating behavior, controlling access to entertainment content based on eating progress rather than being a separate uncontrolled distraction
2Ease of manufacture
If existing meal serving equipment is used, then meals can be served, but there are no built-in means to automatically measure and memorize the amount of food consumed
Solution Approach 1:
The scale automatically performs measurement and data recording functions without requiring manual intervention, with the system self-monitoring weight changes and storing consumption data in the database
Solution Approach 2:
The meal serving system integrates multiple functions including weighing, data storage, entertainment control, and nutritional tracking into a single unified system rather than requiring separate devices for each function
3Reliability
If manual monitoring of nutrition intake is performed, then parents can track calorie consumption, but it requires continuous manual intervention and time
Solution Approach 1:
The system replaces manual mechanical monitoring with automated electronic weight sensing and digital data processing, substituting parental manual tracking with automatic sensor-based measurement
Solution Approach 2:
The scale and database system act as an intermediary between the food consumption and parental awareness, automatically capturing and storing nutritional data without requiring direct parental involvement in the monitoring process
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Enhances children's meal completion motivation and provides automated control over nutrition and calorie intake for both children and adults, promoting balanced eating habits and health management.
Implementation Method 1
a flat profile electronic scale installed on the table in front of the eater and serving as a coaster for a plate, a cup, or a glass
Data Source
AI summary
A meal consumption monitoring and control system is disclosed. The system includes a flat profile scale serving as a coaster for a plate, a cup, or a glass enabled with Bluetooth or other type of wireless connectivity. The scale is connected to an accompanying mobile application installed on a mobile device. The mobile application is connected to the accompanying server-side cloud bases software application. The method for motivating children to consume meal in whole and without significant interruptions includes displaying a children content on the mobile device during the meal consumption, pausing the content when there is a significant delay registered in the meal consumption process, and resuming the content and/or providing certain awards to the child when the child resumes taking meal. The method for automatically controlling the consistency of the eater's nutrition includes collecting meal descriptions and weight data at every meal taking session, and storing the collected data on the cloud for further access by the eaters and/or their parents/guardians.