This Awesome New Gadget Tells You Everything About Your Food

Here at R29 Wellness, we get pretty geeky about gadgets. From fitness bands to nifty apps to Star Wars-esque bionic limbs, we're all over anything that could help us live healthier, more productive lives. Now, an exciting Kickstarter project takes the gizmo game to a whole new level of impressive. Called the SCiO scanner, this ultra-futuristic device can tell you practically everything you'd like to know about your food — with just the press of a button.

Produced by Israeli tech startup Consumer Physics, the SCiO is the first of its kind: a handheld molecular sensor. It uses infrared spectroscopy to get an incredibly detailed set of data about whatever you point it at — from food to pills to your hands. This data is then fed into a series of algorithms. When the system figures out what it's looking at, a report is sent to the SCiO smartphone app (of course) to give you the inside scoop on the substance. Calories, protein, sugar content — there's not much this puppy can't count.

How does it work? The sensor contains a tiny spectrometer, which absorbs the light reflected off the object you're scanning and splits it into rays. While similar technology has been used for years in labs, this is the first time it's been available in a consumer product.

Not surprisingly, people are already excited about the project. More than 11,000 aspiring users have backed the SCiO Kickstarter; with more than eight days left to go, the pledges already total $2.3 million (the original goal was $200,000). The first units are expected to ship in December of this year — and there's still time to pre-order your own for $199.

See the SCiO in action below, and check out the project's Kickstarter to learn how to get involved. Something tells us this one's going to be a game-changer.