iPhone app cooks up ideas from labels

A new iPhone application uses automatic image recognition to identify branded food products and recommend recipes that can use them.

Most products on supermarket shelves are stacked with the label facing forwards. This means that barcode or QR codes are not visible without the user having to move or hold the product. With the so-called Cucumber app, on the other hand, a user can scan the label itself and then get suggested recipes either from the web or from a list of recipes on the app itself.

Apps developer We Are Apps (London, UK) developed the Cucumber app which is aimed at shoppers who are looking for recipe ideas but do not want to search for them online using their smartphone in a busy supermarket.

The iPhone app is due to be released in the fall. In the meantime, users will be able to visit facebook.com/cucumberapp and recommend the products they want to see the app recognize, make recipe suggestions and sign up for an alert when the app become available in the app store.

-- Dave Wilson, Senior Editor, Vision Systems Design