Bengaluru: Want advice on food, calories? Ask Ria, AI-enabled nutritionist

Bengaluru: Ria, developed in Bengaluru, is the world’s first conversational Artificial Intelligence (AI) enabled nutritionist, which is capable of answering questions on fitness and nutrition through audio and text in 10 languages, based on responses received from users.

HealthifyMe, a mobile health and fitness application founded in 2012 and based in Bengaluru, claims to be India’s largest digital wellness platform catering to three million users.

On the thought behind developing such an application and novel methods of reaching out to the user community, Mr Tushar Vashisht, cofounder and CEO of HealthifyMe, said, “The dearth of qualified nutritionists reaching out to the Indian millennial population which is now facing an obesity crisis is what we are bridging by developing such services. Built with data, powered by AI, Ria will cater majorly to Tier 2-3 cities, thereby making healthy living accessible to all.”

The live demonstration session soon after Ria was unveiled saw the AI-enabled nutritionist advising Mr Vashisht on how to eat healthy. “Keep away from all refined-product processed foods. Pay attention to the liquids that you consume as well. Sugary juices and aerated drinks should be completely skipped,” it said.

Assisted by over 200 online nutritionists based in Bengaluru, Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai, HealthifyMe offers real-time health advice.

Users, however, will have to wait till the official launch in December for Ria to start conversing real time. “As of now, Ria has learned from 150 million tracked meals and 10 million message exchanges between coaches and clients via the HealthifyMe platform and we hope that she learns a lot more by the scheduled launch dates,” said Mr Vashisht, who is also a graduate from Pennsylvania University and was one of the prime 10-member team which worked under Nandan Nilekani to develop Aadhaar.