by If you’ve ever used a nutrition app or kept a food diary to track things like protein intake or calories, you know how cumbersome the process can be. This is where the first portable automatic food logging device comes into play, capturing all nutritional data without any effort on your part.
The drop may resemble a strange metal nose, but in reality it’s more like a pair of eyes that follow your every move when it comes to eating. It promises to simplify the tedious work of tracking diet – which is one of the main reasons people forego manual logging and switch between phases of consistency and diet freefall.
The main feature of the Drop is its camera, which uses advanced computer vision and AI to automatically detect food intake. It takes photos intermittently and processes the images through AI – deleting the images shortly afterwards to protect the wearer’s privacy. When it detects food or drinks in its field of view, the intelligent 4K AI camera takes additional photos and evaluates the user’s interaction with the items. These images are then transmitted to the wearer’s smartphone, where further cloud analysis takes place.
“With the launch of The Drop, we want to create a new category of wearables – nutrition trackers – similar to fitness trackers and smartwatches,” explains co-founder Rangel Milushev. “Our vision is to empower users to effortlessly take control of their diet and health.”
Kickstarter
When switched on, the 27.6 g (0.97 oz) device – which can be attached to clothing with a magnetic clasp or worn around the neck – analyzes the images it collects to determine what and how much the wearer has eaten. Once ingredients are selected from a database, they are matched with existing data to provide accurate calorie, protein, carbohydrate and fat breakdowns. Since The Drop’s “brain” is based on machine learning, it will naturally evolve based on the data it inputs, becoming more accurate and personalized over time.
Although we don’t have one of these in our hands (yet – we expect a review in the not too distant future), The Drop is Rex.fit’s automated evolution of their previous groundbreaking release Nutribot, which would analyze nutritional values of meals via a photo or Recipe/food details submitted to the app. The team claims that this new device has 92% accuracy and 16 hours of battery life. Still, we’re curious about his ability to assess meals that aren’t “burgers and fries” or that contain a lot of hidden components. (For example, will it recognize meat alternatives that now look very convincing and look exactly like the real animal product?)
Kickstarter
The team emphasizes that this is not just a calorie counter, but essentially a health coach for all your goals – be it losing weight, optimizing your diet for training, or simply moving your diet into a more balanced range bring. The accompanying app, which unlike most smartphone nutrition technologies doesn’t require a subscription, then offers personalized recipes, meal plans and workout suggestions, giving you important feedback to help you – without you having to log any information yourself.
“We are actively working on the Rex Premium app, the design phase is now complete and the AI component is fully developed,” the team states on its Kickstarter campaign page. “The AI assistant goes beyond basic calorie tracking and macro management by offering personalized meal plans and diet improvement suggestions.”
The app is rolling out for Android and iOS and is expected to be finally released in July 2025. Beta testing will begin soon.
He gives a brief overview of the technical data:
- Processor: Dual-core 32-bit processor operating at up to 240 MHz.
- Wireless: Complete 2.4GHz Wi-Fi subsystem, BLE: Bluetooth 5.0, Bluetooth Mesh.
- Sensors: 4K camera, microphone.
- Memory: On-chip 8MB PSRAM and 8MB Flash, built-in SD card slot, supports 32GB FAT.
- Supported frameworks: Compatible with ONNX Runtime and TFlite.
- Development languages: Support for languages such as Python and C++.
- APIs and Libraries: Provides APIs for sensor data access, communication interfaces, and hardware control.
It will still be a while before supporters can do without their food diaries or logging apps – delivery is expected in the fourth quarter of 2025, but the team has big plans for The Drop and also wants to include other health indicators such as exercise logging, to a To be a one-stop shop for lifestyle tracking.
Kickstarter
The campaign has just launched on Kickstarter, where three colors are available – Carbon Black, Metallic Blue and Gold. The package also includes a leather strap, USB-C to USB-A charging cable, magnetic pen, and a lifetime subscription to the Rex app. A unit will set you back $199, while a two-pack starts at $349.
The drop ships anywhere in the world, but buyers in the US and Canada receive it for free and there are no customs fees. Those living in other regions must expect an additional charge of 10 to 50 US dollars. For more information, visit the Kickstarter page. There is also a two-year guarantee.
Although, as we said, we’re eagerly waiting to try one of these, we’re still excited about the prospect of never having to scan a barcode or log 20 ingredients in a batch of homemade soup again. This is another job that I personally would like to “steal” from AI.
Source: Kickstarter
New Atlas may receive a commission for purchases made through links.
