It is not thanks to a new application that your mobile phone could turn into a real mini laboratory but thanks … to its vibrate mode. Yandao Huang, from the University of Shenzhen in China, has designed a system to measure the viscosity of a liquid thanks to vibrations from the phone. However, the viscosity of a liquid is an incredibly precise indicator for identifying the properties of a liquid. It is particularly affected by bacteria, the minerals or the filth of the water, this would allow detect pollutants. It is even possible to measure the levels of protein orhormones, which could lead to “homemade” urine tests to detect kidney disease or perform pregnancy tests.
Concretely, the researchers printed a cup and 3D that they put on a iPhone 7 in vibrate mode. The smartphone accelerometer then measured the viscosity of the liquid using the amplitude of the waves and their rate of decay. “ We were able to distinguish thirty types of liquids with an average accuracy of more than 95% », Welcomes Yandao Huang in the New Scientist.
However, we are still far from a practical application. The first step is to eliminate the “noise” of vibrations generated by the phone itself. It is then necessary to control the temperature very strictly, because this one is likely to vary the viscosity. The mathematical model must also be readjusted according to the matter and the size of the container. Finally, the system has difficulty identifying mixed liquids, such as milk mixed with coffee. But by combining this detection method with other indices (eg surface tension), we could end up with much more robust measurements, says Yandao Huang.
