Vessyl: the cup that knows what you’re drinking and how fat it’s going to make you

Home / News / Vessyl: the cup that knows what you’re drinking and how fat it’s going to make you

What’s this? A smart cup?
Yep, that’s right. Vessyl is a 385ml container which will propel your drinking habits into the Internet of Things.

How does it do that?
Inside are incredibly precise sensors able to analyse liquids on a molecular level – and recognise them. When you fill it with a drink, it’ll know exactly what that drink is. It can even tell the difference between Coca-Cola and Pepsi, and recognise whether your caramel macchiato is from Starbucks or Costa.

Is that it? I’ll already have a pretty good idea of what I’m putting in my cup, after all
It’s designed very much with healthy living in mind. So it can keep track of your hydration levels (and tell you when you should drink more water) and your caffeine intake (and tell you when to stop knocking back those espressos). In fact, it’s able to track sugar, protein, fat and calories as well. All this information can be fed to your Android or iOS smartphone (via Bluetooth 4.0) and Vessyl’s app, which can give you tips that can help improve your sleep cycle, build muscle or lose weight. There’s also a display on the Vessyl itself, and this will appear when you tilt the cup.

Tell me about the cup itself
It’s a bit like a small Thermos flask. It’s got a spill-proof lid, it’s insulated to help keep drinks hot or cold, and its inner surface is made from a special type of non-stick glass to make washing it out easier. In fact, the makers say merely giving it a rinse should be sufficient in most cases. There are three main colour options, and eight lid colour options.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lu4ukHmXKFU

And it has a battery…
Yes – so it doesn’t want to go in your microwave or dishwasher, ideally. The battery lasts for five to seven days of normal use, and charges wirelessly when placed on a special contactless charging saucer. An hour should be enough to fully charge the battery.

Availability?
The Vessyl will launch in early 2015, priced at US$199 (£115) plus postage. You can however pre-order it now for just $99 (£60) at the Vessyl website.

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Tech journalism's answer to The Littlest Hobo, I've written for a host of titles and lived in three different countries in my 15 years-plus as a freelancer. But I've always come back home to Stuff eventually, where I specialise in writing about cameras, streaming services and being tragically addicted to Destiny.