特百惠风格的产品使用物联网帮你减少食物浪费
Tupperware-style products use the Internet of Things to help you reduce your food waste

由专筑网王帅，蒋晖编译

总部位于芝加哥的科技初创公司Ovie推出了一款Smarterware产品，该产品主要用于食品的存储——当其存储在冰箱里的东西即将变质时，它就会主动提醒用户。

该产品独特之处是它的智能标签——一个会发光的圆盘，它通过发出容易识别的颜色的光来提示食物是否即将到期。

绿色表示最近标注的食物，黄色表示应该优先食用的食物，红色则表示可能过期的食物。

Chicago-based tech startup Ovie has launched Smarterware, a line of food-storage products that alert users when the contents of their fridge are about to spoil.
The products are distinguished by their Smart Tags – glowing discs that signal if an expiry date is approaching through easily recognisable colour coding.
Green indicates a recently tagged food, yellow a food that should be eaten as a priority, and red a food that is likely no longer safe to eat.


Smarterware为一系列特百惠风格的存储容器、夹子和“通用连接器”，旨在帮助人们减少食物浪费／Smarterware is a range of Tupperware-style containers, clips and "universal connectors", designed to help people reduce their food waste

Ovie的产品包括特百惠风格的存储容器、夹子和“通用连接器”，这些都可以用来固定在任意包装上，其每个产品都拥有智能的标签插槽。

虽然食品储存容器不太需要使用互联网这一功能，但Ovie认为这一功能让消费者减少了食物浪费的机会。因此能够间接地帮助用户既节省了金钱，又保护了环境。

该公司根据据美国国家资源保护委员会统计的数据指出，美国人每年浪费了约40%的食物，而每个家庭平均每年浪费约2000美元(1450英镑)。

Ovie's product line includes Tupperware-style containers, clips and "universal connectors" that can stick to any existing packaging. Each product has a slot for a Smart Tag.
While food-storage containers may appear to be too insignificant to warrant Internet of Things functionality, Ovie believes they represents an opportunity for consumers to reduce their food waste, thereby saving money and helping the environment.
The company points to statistics from the National Resources Defense Council, which show Americans waste about 40 per cent of their food, costing the average family approximately $2000 (￡1450) a year.


如果到期日期临近，则标签会发出易识别的颜色／Glowing discs signal if an expiry date is approaching, through easily recognisable colour coding

Ovie首席执行官兼联合创始人Thompson表示：“说实话，人们不想浪费这些食物，我们很忙，我们花时间花钱去做一顿丰盛的饭，而最后仅仅是因为我们忘记了它的保质期就要扔掉大量的食物。”

“我们希望开发一种简单方便的产品来解决这个问题，并为食品储存带来更多的思考。”

"People don't want to waste all of this food — it just happens," said Ovie CEO and co-founder Ty Thompson. "We're busy, we invest time and resources to make a great meal, and then we end up throwing away a large amount of food simply because we forget about it."
"We wanted to help solve this problem by creating a product that would be simple to use and bring a more mindful approach to food storage."


Smarterware可以和亚马逊的Alexa语音识别系统一起工作。用户只需说出食物的名称，系统就会将其与数据库中的信息相匹配／Smarterware works with Amazon Alexa's voice recognition. Users simply speak the name of the food, and the system will match it with info in its database

为了便于使用，设计团队将Smarterware设计成可以配合亚马逊的Alexa语音识别系统共同使用的产品，这意味着用户只需对Ovie说出包含在Smarterware中的食物名称，就可以将其与数据库中的相关过期信息相匹配。

与其相连的app内可以添加可选的附加功能——当食物接近变质时，该应用程序会向用户的手机发送通知，app上提供了冰箱中带有标签的物品的概述，还有根据所剩食物的类型搜索出的食谱。

With ease of use in mind, the team designed Smarterware to work with the voice recognition of Amazon Alexa. This means a user only needs to speak the name of the food contained within Smarterware for Ovie to match it to relevant expiry information in its database.
Optional additional features come via a companion app, which sends notifications to a user's phone when food is near spoiling, provides an overview of tagged items in their fridge and includes a recipe search with results filtered based on the ingredients they already have.


可选功能由一个配套的应用程序提供，为用户提供通知和分析／Optional features come via a companion app, which offers notifications and analysis

Ovie是一家新成立的公司，它是一家将模拟家用产品转换成互联网连接设备的公司。例如智能香水扩散器，智能水壶以及能记录口腔卫生的牙刷。

Smarterware的功能类似于市场上现有的一些智能冰箱，但是它的价格却仅为60美元（44.90英镑）。

Ovie is the latest start-up to transform an analogue household product into an internet-connected device. Some existing examples include a smart fragrance diffuser, connected kettle and a toothbrush that tracks your oral hygiene habits.
Smarterware's functionality is similar that of some existing smart fridges on the market, but with a more accessible price point of $60 (￡44.90) for a starter set.


应用程序包括基于用户剩余食物的种类所搜索出的食谱／The app's various features include a recipe search, with results filtered based on the ingredients users already have

Smarterware上周在Kickstarter众筹网站上发布，目前已筹得接近其4万美元(29800英镑)的融资目标的一半。它是成立于2014年的Ovie公司推出的首款产品。

今年早些时候，该公司在CES电子交易会上展示了一款原型，目前正准备投入预生产。该公司希望在2019年初开始销售Smarterware，并计划在未来将该产品与除亚马逊Alexa语言系统之外的其他系统进行整合。

Smarterware launched last week on Kickstarter and is already halfway to its funding goal of $40,000 (￡29,800). It is the first product from Ovie, which was founded in 2014.
The company exhibited a prototype earlier this year at the CES electronics fair, and is now about to begin pre-production. It hopes to begin shipping Smarterware in early 2019, and plans to integrate the product with other smart speakers in addition to Alexa in the future.