NTT DoCoMo phone: you're hungry, but don't eat yet

05.10.2011
"Your hunger level is 60%. Refrain from snacking even if you are hungry."

So reads the display on the Toshiba Regza phone on display at NTT DoCoMo's booth at the Ceatec electronics show this week in Japan. And it has a point. It's been a few hours since breakfast and I could definitely go for a quick ramen, but probably should wait until lunch.

A Bluetooth-enabled breathalyzer has analyzed my breath for acetone, which the body produces when body fat is consumed. If acetone levels are low, the theory is that the body is running on sugar and carbohydrates, and hasn't started burning fat yet.

Ceatec attendees line up to breath a few times into the breathalyzer devices, and few seconds later a nearby phone lights up with their numbers. The readings seem rough at best -- one healthy-looking man came up 150 percent hungry and several others all came up exactly 36 percent. The product has no firm launch date.

The research is part of DoCoMo's ongoing push to expand the role of mobile phones in everyday life. The country's largest carrier, it runs nearly half the handsets in Japan.

Also on display were a set of swappable cases that add various sensors to a phone, including a radiation detector and a bad breath analyzer.