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I'm thinking the next scientific instrument turned phone accessory is going to be raman spectroscopes. It could easily solve a lot of problems of things like ad

I'm thinking the next scientific instrument turned phone accessory is going to be raman spectroscopes. It could easily solve a lot of problems of things like adulterated food and drugs being so common. There's also research done that shows that many regular consumer phones on the market now have CCDs which are even sensitive enough as-is to read the laser reflection and sort out what the chemical is. There's an implementation here as an add on, but I want to see them embedded in the phones themselves! [1] [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0OOA-jwY4Dk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0OOA-jwY4Dk

CamperBob2 4y ago
Note that that's not a Raman spectrometer, just a conventional grating or prism-based instrument. 3 nm resolution isn't too bad, though. Could be good for evaluating aquarium/houseplant lighting and things like that. A Raman spectrometer is still a fairly exotic piece of hardware, requiring a laser, a notch filter for the laser's wavelength, and a very good conventional spectrophotometer to look for low-level sidebands. There have been some homebrew Raman implementations -- e.g., Ben Krasnow's at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tRrOdKW06sk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tRrOdKW06sk -- but nothing that would fit on the back of a smartphone.
- jamal-kumar 4y ago
  Is there any way you could picture it fitting on the back of a smartphone? Because some people definitely have [1] [1] https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlelanding/2021/ay/d1ay00886b https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlelanding/2021/ay/d1ay0...
  - CamperBob2 4y ago
    Very cool, sign me up for one of those when they hit Kickstarter! It's pretty big and clunky, but still the smallest one I've seen. Edit: already on sale at https://www.amazon.com/CloudMinds-Raman-Spectrometer/dp/B081MB55XY https://www.amazon.com/CloudMinds-Raman-Spectrometer/dp/B081... . $24,980.00. Maybe I'll hold back a bit on this one...
    - jamal-kumar 4y ago
      Give it three years max and it will be on the back of the new iphone
- qwezxcrty 4y ago
  Raman is inherently difficult as it's so weak compared to normal scattering, so careful optimization of SNR is required. Another DIY Raman setup (on a breadboard so expect few kg): https://www.thepulsar.be/article/openraman-starter-edition/ https://www.thepulsar.be/article/openraman-starter-edition/
  - CamperBob2 4y ago
    That's a great site. I like how he describes experiments, techniques, and components that didn't work out, along with the ones that did.
  - jamal-kumar 4y ago
    Yeah it's incredible what people are doing in their homes
programmer_dude 4y ago
A veritable tricoder in the making! Interesting times ahead.
aclatuts 4y ago
That video looks like sketchy vaporware. Who would need to analyze liquids carefully placed in a vial with their phone? Sometimes machines need to be big. Theranos setup themselves up for failure by trying to miniaturize and combine equipment that could never be miniaturized or interfered with each other.
- jamal-kumar 4y ago
  I don't know if you realize what a problem adulterated food and drugs are - So basically grocers and pharmacists in places where regulatory structures are weak Keep in mind airports have this technology by now
system2 4y ago
Infuriating to see such a garbage video for a very promising technology. Either it is beyond fake, or they are just hiding the fact the tech they are working on doesn't work.
- CamperBob2 4y ago
  It's just a simple optical spectrometer, nothing fancy or unique. There actually is a Raman spectrometer that works with a phone, but it costs US $25K (see other comments below.)
- jamal-kumar 4y ago
  Why are you so mad it's literally just a product video with bad ESL English for something that's an active field of serious study Look up cell phone raman spectroscope and there's many done over the past decade I think people's readyness to slap "fake" on everything these days is the only travesty here
  - system2 4y ago
    In fact they act like there is a product. Not about English language, just hold the product and show the features for 1 minute. That's it. The video is just stock videos with random effects. 3rd world or not, people come up with good product videos by reviewing what they have.
- capableweb 4y ago
  Seems they tried to raise money but failed, so unlikely to launch maybe? https://www.pozible.com/project/zpecsen-mobile-spectrometer-/ https://www.pozible.com/project/zpecsen-mobile-spectrometer-... > AU$0 of $19,800 target > 2yrs ago > Closed on 9th Feb 2021 at 5:00PM.

CamperBob2 4y ago

Note that that's not a Raman spectrometer, just a conventional grating or prism-based instrument. 3 nm resolution isn't too bad, though. Could be good for evaluating aquarium/houseplant lighting and things like that. A Raman spectrometer is still a fairly exotic piece of hardware, requiring a laser, a notch filter for the laser's wavelength, and a very good conventional spectrophotometer to look for low-level sidebands. There have been some homebrew Raman implementations -- e.g., Ben Krasnow's at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tRrOdKW06sk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tRrOdKW06sk -- but nothing that would fit on the back of a smartphone.

jamal-kumar 4y ago
Is there any way you could picture it fitting on the back of a smartphone? Because some people definitely have [1] [1] https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlelanding/2021/ay/d1ay00886b https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlelanding/2021/ay/d1ay0...
- CamperBob2 4y ago
  Very cool, sign me up for one of those when they hit Kickstarter! It's pretty big and clunky, but still the smallest one I've seen. Edit: already on sale at https://www.amazon.com/CloudMinds-Raman-Spectrometer/dp/B081MB55XY https://www.amazon.com/CloudMinds-Raman-Spectrometer/dp/B081... . $24,980.00. Maybe I'll hold back a bit on this one...
  - jamal-kumar 4y ago
    Give it three years max and it will be on the back of the new iphone
qwezxcrty 4y ago
Raman is inherently difficult as it's so weak compared to normal scattering, so careful optimization of SNR is required. Another DIY Raman setup (on a breadboard so expect few kg): https://www.thepulsar.be/article/openraman-starter-edition/ https://www.thepulsar.be/article/openraman-starter-edition/
- CamperBob2 4y ago
  That's a great site. I like how he describes experiments, techniques, and components that didn't work out, along with the ones that did.
- jamal-kumar 4y ago
  Yeah it's incredible what people are doing in their homes

programmer_dude 4y ago

A veritable tricoder in the making! Interesting times ahead.

aclatuts 4y ago

That video looks like sketchy vaporware. Who would need to analyze liquids carefully placed in a vial with their phone? Sometimes machines need to be big. Theranos setup themselves up for failure by trying to miniaturize and combine equipment that could never be miniaturized or interfered with each other.

jamal-kumar 4y ago
I don't know if you realize what a problem adulterated food and drugs are - So basically grocers and pharmacists in places where regulatory structures are weak Keep in mind airports have this technology by now

system2 4y ago

Infuriating to see such a garbage video for a very promising technology. Either it is beyond fake, or they are just hiding the fact the tech they are working on doesn't work.

CamperBob2 4y ago
It's just a simple optical spectrometer, nothing fancy or unique. There actually is a Raman spectrometer that works with a phone, but it costs US $25K (see other comments below.)
jamal-kumar 4y ago
Why are you so mad it's literally just a product video with bad ESL English for something that's an active field of serious study Look up cell phone raman spectroscope and there's many done over the past decade I think people's readyness to slap "fake" on everything these days is the only travesty here
- system2 4y ago
  In fact they act like there is a product. Not about English language, just hold the product and show the features for 1 minute. That's it. The video is just stock videos with random effects. 3rd world or not, people come up with good product videos by reviewing what they have.
capableweb 4y ago
Seems they tried to raise money but failed, so unlikely to launch maybe? https://www.pozible.com/project/zpecsen-mobile-spectrometer-/ https://www.pozible.com/project/zpecsen-mobile-spectrometer-... > AU$0 of $19,800 target > 2yrs ago > Closed on 9th Feb 2021 at 5:00PM.