Qualcomm and trinamiX developing IR spectrometer for smartphones, one step closer to Star Trek’s tricorders

Patrick Stewart as Jean-Luc Picard (left) and Gates McFadden as Beverly Crusher (right) in Star Trek: The Next Generation

DECEMBER 22, 2020 - We already sort of think of our smartphones and tablets like Star Trek’s PADDs, but is it time for us to start thinking about them like tricorders too? Many smartphones, including Apple’s iPhone and Google’s Pixel, already incorporate biometric readings into their interfaces, and now one startup is working on bringing spectroscopy onto your devices, too.

According to a piece in Forbes, sensor company trinamiX (a Germany-based subsidiary of chemical company BASF) is working with mobile technology company Qualcomm to investigate integrating spectroscopy with their Snapdragon mobile platforms. trinamiX is working on building small enough spectrometers to fit in a smartphone, and Qualcomm is working on analyzing the results using Snapdragon’s AI engine.

trinamiX says that their first application will be in skincare, analyzing your face and making recommendations for skincare products. But eventually they intend to use the technology for analyzing food for health and diet apps, or even whether plastics are recyclable.

Dr. Wilfried Hermes, a director at trinamiX, told Forbes Senior Contributor John Koetsier in his TechFirst podcast, that they want to “bring the lab to everyone.” Their sensors can already measure protein levels, carbohydrates, fat content and other food information, and by integrating their technology into a phone, “you can add this information to the apps which are already there,” Hermes said.

And for Dr. Hermes and trinamiX, infrared (IR) spectroscopy (the technology they’re working with Qualcomm on now) is just the tip of the iceberg. Hermes said, “We’re talking about IR spectroscopy, but we can think about also X-ray and MRI - it’s not possible today, but I see this will be the trend in the future.”

Of course, if we do end up with smartphones that can double as MRIs, we’ll actually be one step ahead of most of Star Trek - it wasn’t until Star Trek: Discovery landed in the 32nd century that Trek featured a single device (a combadge) that could function as a datapad and tricorder.

If you’d like to know more about the tech they’re building at trinamiX, you can watch Koetsier’s full interview with Dr. Hermes on forbes.com.