Managing your groceries can be a real challenge, especially when there are multiple people in your household. We've all reached into the pantry to grab an ingredient we need and it is empty or almost empty. That's always a difficult situation, especially when you're halfway into cooking something and can't run out to replace it. It would be way better if you knew before you started cooking or, even better, when you were last at the grocery store, that you needed more. That is precisely the situation that PantryOn is here to help solve.

PantryOn is a shelf liner with individual spots for each item in your pantry or closet. Each spot has a scale built-in to determine the current weight of each item. You place a fresh container of each item on the slots and tell the connected app what is on that spot. Then, as people use the product, the weight will decrease. When the weight hits a particular threshold, the app will alert you to the current state. It can also automatically add the item to the shopping list built into the companion app.

There are a few important technological pieces to know about the PantryOn. The first is that it obviously requires electricity to work. That means that you will need to have power available in the pantry or closet in which you plan to use it. Because it is a connected device, you will also need availability for Wi-Fi. Depending on the setup of your home, you may need to test the Wi-Fi signal strength in your kitchen to ensure the cabinets won't cause too much of an issue.

The PantryOn is priced like an appliance, with each unit running between $500 and $700. To learn more, check out the company's website.

Interview by Don Baine, The Gadget Professor.