Available in USA from 30th Sept 2016 (can pre-order now).
$100.
The systemic/metabolic body/breath malodor community usually cannot smell themselves when they smell, so I have thought a phone based 'odorometer' is as essential as therapies and 'clinical' tests. I have looked around for leads and found no company to view it is likely profitable. This was frustrating as I figure the 'bad-breath vanity' market for say 'halitophobia' would be as big as mouthwash, and quite often they may check for some 'volatiles' that may be common to the main type of systemic body odor (e.g. mercaptans, hydrogen sulfide etc).
It was inevitable that phone breathometers would come along, although this 'version 1' breathometer seems the first one and only one available. Perhaps it has also taken the technology up until now to catch up with the concept, and even now it's probably pretty new and probably subject to many changes until the tech matures.
links :
Breathometer site
Indiegogo : where Mint breathometer started
Mint Breathometer article in Techcrunch
article in Venturebeat (9/16)
Breathometer site
Indiegogo : where Mint breathometer started
Mint Breathometer article in Techcrunch
article in Venturebeat (9/16)
Charles Yin is the 'tech entrepreuer' who owns the company. So far he found riches in 2 tech companies (selling them. Not sure if they are still around). Now he doesn't need money.
He appeared on 'Shark Tank' looking for funding for a 'phone alcohol breath sensor', which all 5 sharks gave money for (a bit worrying imho. I would want the publicity but not their stake). A 'breath alcohol phone sensor' sounds not very interesting to me, as there are so many small breathylyzers around.
It seems now they have dumped the 'alcohol breathalyser' and are focusing on detecting all kinds of volatiles that may be related to health. And as I say, the halitophobia vanity market is probably huge and this seems their current focus.
Philips
It seems that Philips are now involved, meaning the tech will have unlimited funding/research, and this means it's probably a long-term part of their oral healthcare strategy.
Relevance to Systemic Body Odor
My own feeling is that those with SBO tend to emit the volatiles through every part of our body, and the breath is probably a good indicator. Some feel they have Systemic Malodors only through their breath. Personally I feel my main problem is SBO, but even then there may be a higher than normal amount of volatiles in my breath when smelling.
The SBO community needs a sensor device as much as therapies, clinical tests etc, and currently this seems the nearest to the aim of a portable sensor for SBO. It looks like it tests for the common VSCs they look for in 'traditional localized halitosis'. I am sure one or more of these will be common in SBO (suspects like sulfides).
And at the moment this is really the only sensor on offer.
Foodsniffer
This device became available about 2 years ago. Again starting on indiegogo (possibly to test the market) then going 'professional'. This is meant to tell you if food is spoilt, about to spoil, or fine. I bought one and it does seem to sense something (e.g. I tried over a bin). It was also pretty good tech overall imho (bluetooth, nice app, well made device).
But I have little to no confidence in it to monitor SBO (as it wasn't intended to).
Mint Breathometer worth buying for SBO ?
For SBO, I would put this down as an 'exploratory gamble buy' that may obviously not be useful after a day or 2 (for SBO monitoring). But currently we have no choice so I'm thinking it's better than nothing.
It's on the right trajectory for SBO, but not quite designed for SBO. Personally I think the 'SBO' market itself will be huge (my estimate, 1% population 'at risk', or would at least buy a sensor). The 'halitophobia' market will be even bigger. I would guess almost everyone worries about halitosis.
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