Instrumenting Smartphones with Portable NIRS

Abstract

In this paper we propose a mobile sensing solution that uses Near Infrared Spectroscopy (NIRS) and discuss its potential in future everyday use cases. The proposed design enables novice end users to classify various objects using NIRS and without prior knowledge of the technology itself. We describe how an instrument that traditionally has been used solely by trained lab personnel, can be commoditized to be used by any end user with a mobile device. The preliminary results indicate that samples can be identified with high accuracy, but that a series of implementation and design challenges must be first accounted for.