Tech Trends
Mar 31, 2020 ● By Liam Kivirist and John D. Ivanko
Photo credit: John Ivanko Photography
At the Heart of Health and Sustainability
by Liam Kivirist and John D. Ivanko
From better access to
fresh produce to being more in control of personal health, and from changing
our diet to incorporate more plant-based proteins to convenient ways to better
monitor and conserve water and save money, numerous tech trends are
transforming our relationship with food, health care and daily life. Many of
these emerging trends were on display at the 2020 Consumer Electronic Show
(CES) in Las Vegas.
Healthier Food and Home
Cooking
A wave of innovations at
CES expand access to fresh produce and make home-cooked meals easier. “We plan
to become the largest connected farm in the world without owning a single acre
of land,” shares Scott Massey, co-founder and CEO of Heliponix, creators of the GroPod smart garden. Similar in shape and
size to a mini-fridge, the GroPod indoor farm system is designed to allow busy
individuals and families to implement freshly grown herbs, greens and
vegetables into their diet with little effort, and no maintenance or the need
for outside growing space. The GroPod supports both soil and hydroponic
gardening and handles all the plants’ needs with highly-efficient internal
water management and LED lighting systems.
“This would be great for
the environment, because we are reducing the impact of the following macro
issues with our single, vertically integrated solution: soil degradation
diminishing potential yields, droughts exasperated by the massive consumption
of water in agriculture, food safety liabilities of conventional agriculture
leading to pathogen outbreaks, deplorable working conditions for migrant
workers in vegetable crop fields and food waste accrued over time spent to
transport and ship produce,” adds Massey.
While the GroPod may help
people eat more fresh food without being farmers, the CookingPal Julia could help people feel
more at ease in the kitchen. At first glance, the CookingPal Julia looks like a
high-tech one-pot cooking tool that combines the functionality of a stovetop,
blender, pot, grinder, steamer and more into a single unit. It walks users
through each step of preparing meals with healthy recipes using functions and internal
scales to provide delicious, simple and stress-free cooking.
Digitization of Health Care
From artificial
intelligence (AI) in everything to the introduction of quick online doctor
consultations via telemedicine connections with the click of a button, options
for care in and out of the hospital are expanding, putting patients in control
of their own health care and providing patient monitoring in real time. “With
the advent of 5G and AI, we now have the ability for the first time ever to
start interrogating and making this health care data meaningful for us,” notes
Pamela Spence, the global health sciences and wellness industry leader at Ernst
& Young, at the Digital Health Summit. “We’re really moving from a whole
world of health care which has really been managing and treating disease into
predictive prevention and even cure. We’re also moving from hospital care into
home care. We used to treat health care in patient cohorts; we now have the
ability to really get down to individual care.”
Instead of nurses and
required clinic office visits, specialized medical devices are becoming more
affordable and accessible outside the doctor’s office, making an expensive and
time consuming in-office visit potentially unnecessary. While still in development, the MedWand, for example, is an easy-to-use handheld device
housing multifaceted diagnostic tools, allowing the patient to take their own
vital readings from respiratory rate to blood oxygen level, communicated to the
doctor in real time. A telemedical diagnosis could be made with treatment or
care provided without ever having to leave the home. “The physicians’ role used
to be much more of an authoritarian-type relationship with the patient, and
[now] it’s going to become more of a guide,” advises Spence.
For years, wearable
technologies have improved how we stay fit and healthy by tracking steps and
heart rate. Promising breakthroughs like the Add Care Glutrac smartwatch can
test glucose levels without the need for blood. Sensors in the watch monitor
body metrics like heart rate that are then paired with a finger sensor that
captures and analyzes a user’s blood sugar level thanks to an artificial
intelligence algorithm. The device is still pending U.S. Food and Drug
Administration approval, but if successful, this technology could improve the
daily lives of the more than 34 million people in the U.S. with diabetes.
Even the routine of
brushing teeth may change. As it turns out, how often we brush is only part of
good oral health. The quality and technique used while brushing has an impact
on results. Colgate’s Plaqless Pro is the first electric toothbrush with built
in sensors to monitor teeth while brushing. It’s accomplished by a built-in LED
light to indicate when all the plaque in a specific area is properly removed.
Smart Sensors to Conserve
Water
A burst, leaking or
malfunctioning water pipe or fixture in a home can easily waste thousands of
gallons of water before anyone is aware of it. Water pipes and plumbing are
internal to a home’s structure, with the unintended consequence of potentially
remaining an invisible issue until long after the damage has been done. With
water seeping out of a pipe, the faster the response, the less water is wasted
and the more money saved.
The Flume Smart Home Water Monitor straps around a home’s
existing water meter to intelligently track water usage, help detect
abnormalities and quickly notify the homeowner via a smart phone app to prevent
potential damages and wasted water.
Plant-Based Protein Alternatives
to Meat
Production and consumption
of meat has had a devastating impact on the planet, not to mention long-term
personal health. Transitioning to a fully plant-based diet can be challenging,
even for the most environmentally conscious individuals, because some
vegetarian or vegan options come up short on taste, flavor or texture. But
while food and technology haven’t been traditionally intertwined, a recent
trend of plant-based protein options and plant-based meat alternatives have
popped up to bridge the gap for traditional carnivores and provide options to
those seeking a more sustainable choice.

Photo credit: John Ivanko Photography
Best known for their
soy-based meatless burgers, Impossible Foods unveiled their Impossible Pork at CES, harnessing
food science to provide a more ecological and vegetarian option to those
seeking alternatives to meat. Both their beef and pork alternatives are
primarily sold through food service channels. Thanks to their innovations, the
products manage to recapture the flavor, texture and even cooking experience of
meat while avoiding many of the health and sustainability downsides.
Another
company, Beyond Meat Foods, has cultivated a
following for their pea-based Beyond Burgers, containing no soy, gluten or
GMOs, which are found alongside packages of ground beef in the refrigerated
aisle. According to a lifecycle analysis by the University of Michigan of a
Beyond Burger when compared to a quarter pound U.S. beef burger, a Beyond
Burger uses 99 percent less water, 93 percent less land, 46 percent less energy
and results in 90 percent fewer greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to
climate change.
Liam Kivirist is a
technology writer and freelance web developer. John D. Ivanko is an
award-winning author and photographer. Both live on a solar-powered organic
farm in Wisconsin.
In-Print, Healing Ways, Fit Body, Green Living
Feature
Plants
Herbs
Vegetables
Womens Health
technology
April 2020
mens health
GroPod
CookingPal
Scott Massey
Heliponix
greens
artificial intelligence
telemedicine
AI
Health Care
MedWand
Add Care Glutrac
Flume Smart Home Water Monitor
Impossible Foods
CES
Beyond Meat Foods