HEALTHIFY

                     Sadaf Tazwar, Mehraj Shafat ,Woodjerson varice, Elio Reyes             

                                                  English 21007

                                                  Sara Jacobson 

                                                     4/26/23

      In recent years, there has been an increased focus on health and wellness. People are becoming more conscious of what they eat, and the importance of maintaining a healthy and balanced diet. However, with busy schedules and limited time, it can be challenging to plan and prepare nutritious meals. This is where the concept of HEALTHIFY comes in. The idea is that the application will be able to make nutritious meal plans based on the ingredients available inside it. The user will be able to use their phone cameras to input on to the app what the food inside the refrigerator is. This information would then be used to generate meal plans that are tailored to the user’s preferences and dietary requirements. This innovation fulfills a significant need in the market. As people become more health-conscious, they are looking for convenient and efficient ways to maintain a healthy diet. By having a Smart refrigerator app that can generate meal plans, users can save time and effort while also ensuring that they are consuming nutritious meals. In terms of the technical environment, this innovation is made possible by advances in image recognition technology, artificial intelligence, and machine learning. HEALTHIFY would require sophisticated image recognition software to detect the contents of the fridge accurately. Additionally, the meal planning algorithm would need to be based on complex artificial intelligence and machine learning algorithms to generate personalized meal plans. Overall, the innovation of a Smart refrigerator app  that can make nutritious plans based on what is inside it is a significant step forward in the world of health and wellness. It fills a void in the market by providing a convenient and efficient way for people to maintain a healthy diet. With advances in technology, this innovation is becoming increasingly feasible, and we can expect to see more Smart refrigerators in the market in the coming years.

Meal prepping plays a key role in helping people improve their health and lose weight. However, meal prepping can be a very difficult habit to keep. Many people give up meal planning due to how hard it is to find a meal plan that is right for them. 9 out of 10 individuals have attempted meal prep once, but only 44 percent of those individuals are currently meal planning(Adele Halsall, April 2023). With meal planning being a major concern for people who are trying to improve their health, HEALTHIFY will be a great innovation since the meal plans given are tailored to the user.

Most of the apps in the market that are geared towards meal planning give basic diets for people to follow and do not take into account special requirements the user may have. This means that users will follow a meal plan that may not be suited to them which leads to disappointing results which can lead to people giving up on improving their health. HEALTHIFY will generate meal plans that take into consideration those special requirements which will lead to a more accurate meal plan which should improve results for the user.

Some people may choose to see a nutritionist in order to get a specialized meal plan. Although it may provide a tailored meal plan, it comes with a high price. The average price for a consultation with a nutritionist can be from $100 to $200 in the U.S(Sophie Wei, December 19, 2022). This can be very expensive to most people who are trying to improve their health or improve weight loss, and it does not include the cost of travel and time spent traveling to and from the location. HEALTHIFY will provide the same benefits as a nutritionist, without the need to travel. 

  In order to create the app we need to first define what requirements the app will need to fulfill. In the case of HEALTHIFY the app the requirements for creating the apps would be a user interface that can be accessed from both the smart refrigerator and from a smartphone. In addition to that the app will need image recognition so that it can recognize the foods in refrigerators from the camera of the users when they take a photo.  An examples of image

recognition exists in the form of google lens which can identify items from photos (Raphael, A. I. B. J. R., & Raphael, J. R. (2022, June 22)). User authentication is also requirement. The app should provide a secure login system for users to access their accounts and meal plans.

After defining the requirements, we will need to design the app’s architecture, including the database schema, the UI design, and the logic for food recognition and meal planning. We can use tools like Sketch or Adobe XD for designing the user interface.Once you have the app design, you can start developing the app using the programming languages and tools you have decided upon. This process includes coding the backend and integrating the camera module to the app. To create the app we will need a computer, software development tools like Integrated Development. Environment (IDE) or Code Editor, database management tools, app development frameworks, and the camera module SDK.  After development we will  need to test the app thoroughly to ensure it functions correctly, and all features work as intended. We could test the app by allowing select people to use the app  and ask them to report any issue they come up with. After testing,we’ll deploy the app to the smart refrigerator, make it available in app stores, and enable app access through the smartphone camera.  The cost and time for developing an app depend on the features, complexity, and the development team. Developing such an app may require several months to a year and can cost around $100,000-$300,000, including development, design, testing, and deployment. 

One of the main programming languages that our software team used to create the detective information was Python and NER (Name Entity Recognition). This was a combination of both programming languages, which helps the person that uses the app to put in the information on the screen and select what type of meal the Refrigerator should prepare for that person. Another software that was also being used in the process was text recognition. This is a language that is used for text classification. So the user of the Refrigerator can type in the app the type of the meal, the user wants the app to prepare. The app can prepare the meal in real time to detect the information the user puts in by using advanced computer algorithms. When the person orders the food the app recognizes the information by using the camera and the machine learning algorithms to begin making the food. These are all based on touch screens of the smart Refrigerator  Screen and also it can be accessed from the phone, if the user decides to download the app. Another software that is being used is NLP (Natural language processing). This app helps with the algorithm of the past foods being made, so it could over use the same ingredients to prepare the same type of meal for the next day. And by taping the selected options from the screen the computer will detect the information to help prepare a healthy meal the user wants. Not only the user ordering the type of meal they want.  Another big factor in these is the Ingredients the Refrigerator needs to make the meal. And this is where the Language SVM (Support Vector Machines is being used. This is a software that is being used for machine learning. So as the information is being detected this software kicks off the thing by programming the machines to make the food within the refrigerator. The app already knows the ingredients that are inside the refrigerator. So all it needs is to make it the right way the user puts in the information on how to use the ingredients to make the food, and that is about how the app functions inside and takes in order from its owner. 

  The cost of developing and running the HEALTHIFY app would depend on various factors such as the complexity of the app’s features, development platform, and team size. It’s estimated that a project of this nature would require a team of developers, designers, and data scientists. The development cost alone could range from $50,000 to $150,000, depending on the complexity and level of sophistication. In addition to the development cost, there would be ongoing costs such as server hosting, maintenance, and updates. As for the profitability, the HEALTHIFY app could generate revenue through subscriptions, sponsored content, and affiliate partnerships with grocery stores and health food brands. With its unique selling proposition of personalized meal planning based on available ingredients, HEALTHIFY has the potential to become a popular app among health-conscious individuals, making it a profitable venture.

Healthify is an app that can benefit people in many ways, such as helping them decide the diet and the type of food they want to eat because most people nowadays are busy and don’t have the time to prepare their diet by themselves. This makes them feel like there should be some technology or invention where it can help them get through the process of preparing the food. This is where our team has decided to come up with an app that is mainly used in the smart refrigerators, because the smart refrigerators have screens on them where people get to place their food and the quantity of food they have and the temperature of the fridge. So why not have an app on the refrigerator that can help people decide their diet and make it for them. By using advanced algorithms and machine learning and the ingredients it needs. On top of that, the app is also available on any devices either apple store or google play because it can be supported from the person’s mobile device.  So these are the benefits of having an app like Healhify to support your diet on a daily basis.

   In conclusion, the concept of HEALTHIFY, a Smart refrigerator app that generates personalized meal plans based on the ingredients available inside it, is a significant innovation in the world of health and wellness. This app addresses the growing need for convenient and efficient ways for people to maintain a healthy diet, especially for those who struggle with meal planning due to busy schedules or lack of knowledge. With the advancements in image recognition technology, artificial intelligence, and machine learning, HEALTHIFY is becoming increasingly feasible and could potentially become a common household appliance in the future. By providing a tailored meal plan based on the user’s preferences and dietary requirements, HEALTHIFY could potentially improve the results for people who are trying to improve their health or lose weight. Although the development cost may be high, the benefits of having a Smart refrigerator app like HEALTHIFY could outweigh the cost in the long run. Overall, HEALTHIFY is a promising innovation that could revolutionize the way people approach meal planning and help them achieve a healthier lifestyle.

 Reference:

Raphael, A. I. B. J. R., & Raphael, J. R. (2022, June 22). 14 ways google lens can save you time on Android. Computerworld. Retrieved April 29, 2023, from https://nam12.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.computerworld.com%2Farticle%2F3572639%2Fgoogle-lens-android.html%23%3A~%3Atext%3DIt%2520uses%2520artificial%2520intelligence%2520to%2Call%2520sorts%2520of%2520interesting%2520ways.&data=05%7C01%7Cwvarice000%40citymail.cuny.edu%7C120d571add60403fba0d08db48e0f5a9%7Cd916a2d793e94ac99afb45a0d646a0b9%7C0%7C0%7C638183903282281630%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=ykSgPqA%2F2n8%2F8WXZRB0TovAiNI%2BuVA5ibIpy1gRMyr4%3D&reserved=0

Wei, S. (2022, December 19). How Much Does a Nutritionist Cost in 2023 without Insurance?? Mira. Retrieved April 30, 2023, from https://www.talktomira.com/post/how-much-does-a-nutritionist-cost-in-2022

Halsall, A. (n.d.). How Do People Meal Prep Around the U.S.? MyProtein. Retrieved April 30, 2023, from https://us.myprotein.com/thezone/motivation/how-do-people-meal-prep-around-the-u-s/#:~:text=Nearly%209%20out%20of%2010,prep%20on%20a%20regular%20basis.