A food diary for nutrition research
We are looking for research partners: university groups, nutrition researchers, dietitians and public health teams who study dietary intake. openplate is an open-source food diary that runs on the participant's device, and we want it to serve research as well as daily logging.
Write to usWhy openplate suits a study
No app store
Participants install your instance from a link in the browser. Nobody needs an Apple or Google account, and an update reaches every participant without a store release.
Open code
The app and core server are published under the MIT licence. An ethics board or data protection officer can inspect how the software handles data instead of relying on vendor descriptions.
The diary stays on the device
Each diary is kept on the participant's phone or computer. On a self-hosted instance, sync is optional. When enabled, the diary is encrypted on the device before upload. Whoever runs the core server keeps a backup key that can read it. A study can host the core server on institutional infrastructure and hold that key itself.
Consent comes first
The analytics have a research level that records health behaviour for a study with consenting participants. It stays off until the instance operator turns it on.
Logging from photos
Participants can log meals by photographing their plate. Image estimates can run through a cloud model or through openplate-inference on hardware your institution controls.
What we offer
A base to build on
Deploy an instance on your institution's infrastructure and adapt it to your protocol. There are no licence fees and no vendor contracts.
Study-specific builds
We configure openplate for your protocol, including custom dietary targets, questions, food databases and languages.
Data export with consent
Participants share diary records with the study only after granting consent. We structure exports to match your analysis pipeline.
Joint grants and papers
We are looking for co-applicants on grant proposals and for joint publications, for example on image-based dietary assessment.
Who we are looking for
- University groups in nutrition science, medicine and public health
- Dietitians and clinical teams running intervention studies
- Researchers in human-computer interaction who study self-tracking
- Groups working on food recognition and portion estimation from images
How a collaboration starts
Write to us
Tell us about your group, your research questions and your timeline.
Initial call
We discuss your protocol, what openplate supports now, and what adjustments your study needs.
Written scope
Before any work begins, we agree in writing on the deliverables, data handling procedures and result ownership.
Get in touch
Email research@openplate.de. A short summary is enough: your team, your research focus, and what your study requires from openplate.
Write to us