Remember that New Year’s resolution you made last week about watching what you eat? Then you realised you had to count the calories on everything, keep tabs, monitor it against a daily recommended intake and gave up and ordered pizza.

Well the creators of the GoBe wristband say that it can automatically monitor your calorie intake by simply being worn on your wrist. This has raised the ire of many in the medical profession, who claim that is simply not plausible. George Mikaberydze, the firm’s co-founder, explained the process of calculating calorie intake:

Carbs from the meal convert to glucose, and the glucose goes to the cells.When glucose goes into the cells, water goes out – that means the water balance changes. The bioimpedance sensor used measures this water flow, in and out. And [knowing this] we can build a glucose curve… and calculate the carbs.

That all sounds splendid, but what did the BBC find when they tested it on Mikaberydze, feeding him an average-sized lunch serving and comparing the food labels’ calorie counts to the GoBe count:

The result was that the software estimated Mr Mikaberydze had eaten 514 calories, which wasn’t far off the 555 calories suggested by the food labels. And to be fair, the number was still slowly climbing when we had to part company.

As a bit of a realist, I would prefer to go with what’s tried and tested to sculpt my abs for 2015. Like the Medalist Vinyl Kettlebells and the Prestigio Smart Pedometer:

Medalist Vinyl Dipped Kettlebells 12kg
R504.00

Prestigio Smart Pedometer
R509.00

Many remain sceptical and much research and testing must still be done before the GoBe is heralded as the ‘Holy Grail’ of wearables, but should it manage to pass these tests with flying colours it will open up exciting new avenues of opportunity. 

Here’s hoping they invent calorie-free pizza and beer as well [BBC].