MOOD Life Life: Health & Fitness Life: Food

Gadget Watch: Electronic fork nags you on eating

PETER SVENSSON
The Associated Press • Modified: January 23, 2013 at 3:07 pm • Published: January 23, 2013

photo - The HAPIfork, made by HAPILABS, smart electronic fork is seen on display at the Consumer Electronics Show, Tuesday, Jan. 8, 2013, in Las Vegas. The fork vibrates and lights up to help its user slow down to a healthy eating pace. (AP Photo/Julie Jacobson) — The HAPIfork, made by HAPILABS, smart electronic fork is seen on display at the Consumer Electronics Show, Tuesday, Jan. 8, 2013, in Las Vegas. The fork vibrates and lights up to help its user slow down to a healthy eating pace. (AP Photo/Julie Jacobson)

WHY YOU'D WANT IT: Nutritional experts recommend eating slowly because it takes about 20 minutes to start feeling full. If you eat fast, you may eat too much. The fork is also designed to space your forkfuls so that you have time to chew each one properly. It's like having your mom in a utensil!

WHAT IT DOESN'T DO: The fork has no clue about the nutritional content of your food or how big your forkfuls are. It can't tell if you're shoveling lard or stabbing peas individually.

AVAILABILITY: The company is launching a fundraising campaign for the fork in March on the group-fundraising site Kickstarter.com. Participants need to put down $99 for a fork, which is expected to ship around April or May. Those forks will connect to computers through USB cables.

Later this year, the company plans to start selling Bluetooth-enabled forks to the general public. No price was disclosed for that version.