Functional tricorder app, coming soon to a smartphone near you!

The principle: Take out your smartphone, open the app, aim it at the object being scanned -- such as an apple -- and get the desired information, for instance, whether an apple contains pesticide residues.

Although systems that perform such scans already exist, users usually have to clamp additional parts such as a prism onto the front of the integrated camera. This is costly and impractical and additionally interferes with a smartphone's design. "What makes our app special is that users don't need anything for a scan other than the camera already integrated in their smartphones," says Prof. Udo Seiffert, Expert Group Manager at the Fraunhofer IFF.