Gizmodo: Scales

Wrist Watchscale, For When You Really Need to Weigh Small Stuff

Kit Eaton — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 11:00:00 EDT

The spoon-scales from a while back we called "perfect for dieters and dealers" because of the spoon part, but with this wristwatch scale... Well, it's just convenient for when you really, really need to weigh small quantities of stuff right then and there. Makers Jennings call it "The first Pocket WatchScale ever" and it measures in grams, ounces, Troy ounces and pennyweights, to a max of 10.5-ounces with 0.001-ounce accuracy. Strangely the one thing it doesn't seem to do is tell the time, but it's out now, for about $25. [Product page]

Apples or Oranges? This Smart Scale Can Tell the Difference

Jack Loftus — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 18:00:00 EDT

I happen to love the automated checkout lines at the supermarket, but I hate the five or six seconds of my day that are wasted there when I have to manually input the name of the produce I'm weighing on the scale. Lucky for me, and for other lazy people who absolutely have to have those five seconds back, there's a new development in automated checkout scales that could revolutionize the supermarket industry. Here's a hint: It's like facial recognition, but for fruit!

The scale, developed by the German Fraunhofer Institute, works by snapping an image of the fruit or vegetable in question and comparing it to a produce database. If you're one of the Earth-hating people who needs their fruit wrapped in plastic bags, don't worry, because the scale's image processing can see through them. It can even differentiate between various pieces of fruit that are at different stages of ripeness (yellow versus green bananas, for example).

The 300 or so scales in the field now are being tested in Europe, with US plans taking shape for the near future. [I4U via OhGizmo]

Overall Health Balance Scale Measures Everything But Peen Size

AddyDugdale — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 06:30:00 EDT

Aimed, one guesses, at Japanese health obsessives, the Overall Health Balance Scale measures a person's health in six different ways: weight; BMI; subcutaneous fat ratio; organ fat level; muscle level; and basal metabolic rate. On top of that, it rates your health on a scale of one to five. Sounds to me like a version of amihotornot.com that you stand on. As well as checking your posture and balance, the Overall Health Balance Scale has got a screen-cum-scanner on a pull string, which semi-detaches from the unit. I think this is aimed perhaps at people so fat that the last time they saw their genitals the Berlin Wall was still standing—and sumo wrestlers. It hits the shelves in Japan on May 1, no price as yet. [Kilian-Nakamura]

Spoon With Built-In Scales, Perfect for Dieters and Dealers

Kit Eaton — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 07:05:32 EDT

This spoon, which looks like a prop from CSI, has built-in scales so you can scoop and check the amount all in one. Made of ABS plastic and stainless steel, it has an LCD screen, and an accuracy of 0.005 ounces. It also measures in metric or imperial and can keep track of added weights. Just make sure you use it for cooking ingredients, and not for measuring stuff that might get you a visit from CSI for real. Available for about $37. [Gadget Review via ProIdee, OhGizmo, GeekAlerts]

Balancing Your Books Gets Real With the Scales Bookshelf

Kit Eaton — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 12:30:44 EDT

We've shown you staircase bookshelves, elasticated ones, bookchair ones and now there's this balancing design. There must be something about the form-meets-function nature of a bookshelf that means designers just can't resist them. In this case, "form" gets an added twist with the addition of a pivot and some sliding weights. So you can have a cookily tilted shelf, or slide the weights around to compensate for an unbalanced library: "Maintain the Balance of Your Knowledge" as designer Denis Oh puts it. Weird concept, but interesting. [Yanko design]

Asimov's Law Weighing Machines: Scales That Lie

Kit Eaton — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 09:51:58 EST

No one likes learning their weight from a set of scales, so Alice Wang's new concept devices take inspiration from Asimov's First Law of Robotics to protect you from the cruel truth. Her three scales are designed to not "harm a human being " (i.e. you) by either requiring another person to read them or just flat-out lying to you. Dieting would never feel the same again.

Feel like trusting someone else to be kind about your porkiness? The Half Truth design has a display on the front where you can't see it, leaving it up to someone else to read it and decide what to tell you. Not sure about the "harming a human" rule: this one may be a relationship-strainer.
Open Secrets doesn't have a display at all, instead transmitting data on your current fatness to someone else's mobile phone. You'd never even have to know the exact figure, which may be quite liberating.
And White Lies is the most devious. The further back on the scales you stand, the lighter you appear, so you can choose how much to let the scales lie to you.

Its nice to see a designer tackling a mundane object like bathroom scales, but I can advocate another weighing tactic to avoid upset: ban scales from your house altogether. Much simpler and cheaper all round. [Alice Wang via Dezeen]

Scale Weighs You In With Celebs: Hope You're Not Mr. Ed

Charlie White — Tue, 29 Aug 2006 12:14:18 EDT

Weight is just a number, right? Not any more with the Celebrity Weighing Scale, eschewing numbers altogether and assigning you a celebrity that corresponds to your weight. Let's just hope you tip the scales closer to that of the Baby Jesus or Oliver Twist, rather than its higher end, comparing you to the likes of Mr. Ed or King Kong. You'll feel cool if you match up with Chuck Norris or Goldie Hawn.

Angry Associates also offers an icon-based scale, letting you weigh in to a corresponding chicken, goat, pig, or heaven forbid, a cow. Your choice, celebs or fauna for 35 (about ~~$60~~ $45). – Charlie White

Celebrity Weighing Scales [diet-blog]

Citizen Scale Measures Internal Organ Fat

Noah R — Thu, 12 Jan 2006 11:40:58 EST

There are two ways of looking at fat in America: either we are too obsessed with it, or not nearly obsessed enough. This lovely HM7000 scale from Citizen fits in the latter category. It not only measures fat, but the fat levels of your internal organs, basal metabolic rate, inner body age (say what?), amount of muscle and estimated bone density. Yes, but can I put my morning Twinkies on the scale and have it tell me exactly how much weight I will gain from eating them both in one bite? Well?

Personal data for up to 4 people can be registered. Available January 23 in Japan.

Product Page

More health and body fat scales [Amazon]