Health Intelligence
What Happens If Enbodie Doesn’t Recognise Your Product
Darren Crowder · · 3 min read
No product database has everything. New products launch every week, packaging changes, and some products are only sold in one shop or one country.
So the real question is not whether an app will ever fail to recognise a product. It is what happens when it does.
With Enbodie, the answer is: that’s okay, and the journey does not stop there.
Start with the camera you already have
We use several ways to find your product, and we always try to make the easiest one come first.
That starts with the camera already in your smartphone. Instead of typing a product name or hunting for a barcode, you can simply take what we call a “product selfie”. Enbodie uses the image to try to recognise the actual product in front of you.
Like any camera-based technology, it works best with:
- a clear view of the product
- good lighting
- sharp focus
With those in place, we can usually get a good image to start from. We then search our product data to identify the exact product and begin breaking down what is inside it and what may be relevant to you.
If the photo is not enough
If we cannot confidently recognise the product from the image, there are other ways in.
Barcodes and QR codes. You can scan a traditional rectangular barcode or, where available, a more modern QR code, and we use that to search for the product.
Text search. This starts searching as soon as you begin typing a brand or product name. Think of it like typing a postcode: every extra letter narrows the possibilities, so you reach the right product quickly.
Voice search. In future releases, we plan to add voice search, so you will be able to simply tell Enbodie what you are looking for.
So the first journey is designed to be simple: take a product selfie, scan a barcode or QR code, start typing the name, and, in future, simply ask by voice.
If none of those finds it, send it to us
We still do not leave you there.
Enbodie includes a feature that lets you send us the product so we can investigate it for you. All we ask for is at least two clear photographs, typically the front and back, or the top and bottom. If you really want to help, you can send all four.
Then give us a few simple details:
- The brand name
- The product name, if you know it
- Its size
- The category it belongs to
- Anything else you think might help us identify it
Then we do the searching.
We aim to come back to you as quickly as possible with the product we believe best matches what you have shown and described. Sometimes that can be very fast, potentially within around an hour. More difficult products may take 24 to 48 hours to investigate properly.
What happens once it is found
Once we identify the product, we can start looking at:
- what the product is
- what ingredients or components it contains
- what those ingredients are used for
- whether anything may be particularly relevant to you
- potential sensitivities, ingredient combinations or cumulative exposure
- whether there may be alternatives better suited to your profile, needs or values
And if we still cannot be sure
If, after all of that, we still cannot identify the product with enough confidence, we will tell you clearly rather than guess.
A confident answer about the wrong product would be worse than no answer at all.
You do less. We do more.
You should not have to spend your time searching the internet, copying long ingredient lists, or working out which version of a product you have. That is what Enbodie is there for.
Simple. Fast. Personal.