We have a general thirst for knowledge of the world that can’t be quenched. We were born with no understanding of our surroundings, and have to be taught what things are, how they work, and how to interact with what’s in front of us. After a certain point, it’s up to us to gain knowledge about the world rather than being educated by teachers or parents.
If you want to know anything nowadays, you normally go to your phone and look things up online. If you’re wanting to know about the structure of an object, Wikipedia is not going to give you detailed information of what sits in front of you. If you wish you could learn more about the world around you, then the SCiO might peak your interest. This is a molecular scanner that can tell you the makeup of matter for anything you scan. Sound like the tricorder from Star Trek? It’s a bit behind the curve by comparison, but that’s where this is headed.
It has a tiny spectrometer which will tell you the chemical makeup of whatever you scan and send the information to your smartphone (iPad 3, iPhone 4S+, or Android 4.3+). You can get nutritional facts, see how ripe produce is, check the quality of your cooking oil, authenticate medicine, and much more. Everything you upload and tag will be sent to a giant database, which will help with research about the planet we live on. The app is very easy to navigate, and there is dev kit available for those who want specific information, but it costs $400-1000 in comparison to the regular SCiO which will cost $200-300.
Available for crowdfunding on Kickstarter