Dole’s smart banana is the first wearable you can eat

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Dole Japan has outfitted a banana with sensors and LEDs to create the world’s first edible wearable product. Or produce.

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When you think of banana peels and racing, it’s hard not to conjure up memories of Mario Kart. However, what if those bananas weren’t inhibitors of your racing performance, but instead were actual enablers? That’s the idea behind the latest stunt from Dole Japan. Dating back to 2008, the world’s largest producer of fresh fruit has been sponsoring the Tokyo Marathon, and this year, it’s looking to step up its marketing game by giving two runners among the 30,000-plus pack a wearable banana. (And yes, we said banana.)

The smart bananas are embedded with sensors so that, like a number of fitness bands available today, it can monitor a racer’s time, track heart rate and even receive encouraging Twitter messages from fans. During the race, each of these notifications will be shown directly on the peel through an LED display that was inserted under the banana’s skin. What’s more, the gadget will notify the runner when it’s time to refuel, in which case they can conveniently eat the piece of fruit.

Dole’s edible device is powered by a small battery, and from the looks of its trailer, it appears that an Arduino Uno (ATmega328) plays some part in the process — though the company has yet to disclose the specs in their entirety.

It should be noted, however, that this is certainly a marketing campaign and the smart banana will also advise runners to consume more bananas at checkpoints along the route. Given the proliferation of the Internet of Things, we’ve seen wearables be many things, edible not being one of them. So what do you think? Could this be the next trend?