Fitterfly, Google Cloud launch AI-powered meal tracking app for people with diabetes

Mumbai, India-based Fitterfly has teamed up with Google Cloud to introduce "Fitterfly Klik" — an AI-powered food cam designed to help individuals manage diabetes and other non-communicable diseases (NCDs). The innovative feature promises to make meal tracking simpler, more efficient, and enjoyable by leveraging advanced AI technology.

By providing a seamless and accurate meal-tracking experience, Klik empowers users to make informed dietary choices, promoting healthier lifestyles.

How does it work?

Fitterfly Klik revolutionizes meal tracking using cutting-edge AI computer vision technology integrated with Fitterfly's extensive Nutrition Database, which includes over 37,000 Indian food items. Users can easily access Klik within the Fitterfly app by tapping the camera icon in the meal-tracking food diary.

Whether taking a photo during a meal or uploading images from their gallery later, users receive instant feedback on their food — including portion sizes and detailed nutritional information like calorie count and nutrient distribution. Klik can accurately identify both Indian and international dishes, making it versatile and user-friendly.

Designed for optimal user experience, Klik includes features like Focus Guidelines to help capture perfect photos for accurate food recognition. Advanced algorithms then analyze the images, syncing nutritional data directly to the user's Meal Diary in the Fitterfly App. Additional items can also be added if not all dishes are visible in the initial photo.

As Ammar Jagirdar, Head of Fitterfly X-Labs, said, "Klik makes meal logging possible in a few seconds, even with multiple dishes on a plate."

Why does it matter?

Traditional meal-tracking methods, such as manual journaling or text entries in apps, are often cumbersome and discouraging, hindering consistent usage. Fitterfly Klik addresses these challenges by offering a quick, enjoyable, and insightful meal-tracking experience. This innovation is crucial as nutrition planning is vital for managing type 2 diabetes, weight loss, and heart disease.

By simplifying meal tracking, Klik helps users make better dietary choices, leading to improved health outcomes.

"Klik is a step towards helping millions of people in making better choices and enabling better health outcomes," said Dr. Arbinder Singal, Co-Founder and CEO of Fitterfly.

This reflects the broader mission of Fitterfly to empower users with tools that facilitate healthier lifestyles through informed dietary choices.

The context

Fitterfly, co-founded in 2016 by Dr. Arbinder Singal and Shailesh Gupta, is a prominent Indian healthtech company specializing in digital therapeutic programs for diabetes, obesity, and heart disease management. Based in Mumbai, the company employs over 200 professionals, including doctors, nutritionists, fitness experts, and technologists. Fitterfly has been at the forefront of health technology research, with over 50 published papers and numerous accolades, including the Economic Times Healthtech Startup of the Year 2022.

The collaboration with Google Cloud leverages the power of Gemini 1.5 Flash on Google Cloud's Vertex AI platform, enabling Klik to deliver exceptional quality and cutting-edge multimodal capabilities.

The initial outcomes from the Fitterfly Klik beta phase are encouraging - users save significant time and effort logging meals, as evidenced by a 90% reduction in clicks. Validation tests confirm that Klik can precisely identify a wide range of food items and their portion sizes, ensuring that users have the most accurate nutritional information at their fingertips.