Hapifork was launched on Kickstarter sometime in the beginning of 2013. It is essentially a vibrating Bluetooth fork that can be bought for a ridiculously high price of $99.99; now it is priced at $79. It can pair with an Android or iOS device to send you feedback, or you can sync it with a USB to your computer. It comes with a built-in accelerometer to track the motion of your hand. It has two modes, Alarm and Coaching, and vibrates in the former along with a glowing green or red light to tell you if you have timed your bites perfectly.
Timing your bites is nothing but waiting for 10 seconds between bites. The fork counts, and also measures a hand motion registering a bite (a bite is measured the moment the food goes in your mouth and completes a circuit with the metal tine of the fork). You won’t feel any vibration if you wait for a full 10 seconds, but get buzzed if you don’t. The whole system works very nicely if you have a phone next to your plate. This way, you can watch the app time your bites and encourage you when you make the perfectly timed bite. This does make the user feel somewhat ridiculous.
Right now, Hapifork has two apps – a bare-bones app for fork tracking, and a full “Hapi Labs” app that takes in other fitness gadget app data like Fitbit, Jawbone UP, and Bluetooth smart scales. The data that you get from Hapifork cannot be used on Fitbit, Jawbone, or smart scale apps, though. In this regard, it is a one-way street. Hapi Labs is an odd app. It will encourage you to complete your day by being active, eating well, and recording several “happy moments” through tagged photos.
It takes a few efforts to use the Hapifork correctly. You will have to execute hand motions that are very specific. The instructions that come with Hapifork recommend a downward fork-pierce and an arm lift so that your wrist is elevated enough to register motion. If you scoop your food with your fork, like many people do very often, the bites are not registered. As a result, a good portion of your salad eating goes unregistered by Hapifork. In addition, this device does not care about what food you put in your mouth. You could eat a forkful of green salad or steak – as long as you are timing your bites, Hapifork is blissfully happy.
You can remove the internal electronics of Hapifork. The outer fork sheath can be cleaned in your dishwasher. This gadget comes with a plastic carrying case. The question that arises here is – who would carry around a dedicated fork only to track their bites? Hapifork is not supposed to be immersed beyond its metal base. This means, deep, saucy dishes are ruled out.
One session with Hapifork seems to be enough for many. In the future, it would be simpler to just count to 10 between your bites.
Buy Hapifork from https://www.hapi.com
