I'm not comfortable buying a $100 cup if I Can't find the "How does it work?" question in the FAQ. I mean, I'm not expecting a full technical detail, but something more than "It’s not magic, but close to it…".<p>It's easier to find out if it will work as you expect it if at least gives some hint of what kind of technology it's using. Or am I missing any text that says so? I would certainly consider doing a pre-order if I had some more info on its inner workings. It looks like a neat product and even one that I would like to try out just for fun, and also to see if this technology actually works.<p>(I'm not counting the video which I didn't look at because I really prefer not having to sit through several minutes of pretty pictures and logos and such to find out how the product works)<p>So am I alone in this? is it so rare for people to ask how a device that claims near-magical properties work?
What problem is this cup solving? Is it that hard to figure out what you're drinking? (Hint: look at the bottle when you pour, and don't take drinks from strangers.) Is it that hard to keep yourself hydrated? (Just drink when you're thirsty.) And how is a calorie counting cup gonna help me lose weight? (Just DRINK WATER).<p>I want something that simplifies my life. Not something that needlessly complicates something as simple as drinking without giving me added benefits.
I'm not sure why exactly I would need this (I don't need a cup to tell me what I'm drinking, and I don't find it difficult to keep track of my beverage habits).<p>This is interesting from a technical perspective, though. How does it know what's in the cup?
I hope they are taking a page from the Tesla playbook. The people who <i>need</i> this device are not the ones who are going to pre-order it today or buy it when it comes to retail. But to reach the broader consumer market they need to target high-end, trendy, and rich consumers, so they can eventually produce an affordable (or better yet, ubiquitous) technology.
To complete the analogy, I hope this is the "Roadster" with a clear goal of an affordable sedan in the future.<p>Who do I think needs this technology? People who drink soda and don't know how many calories they are consuming. Not only does it cause a huge percentage of obesity cases (<a href="http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/sugary-drinks-fact-sheet/" rel="nofollow">http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/sugary-drinks-fa...</a>) but the large doses of caffeine and phosphoric acid in Colas can do serious damage to your bones! (<a href="http://www.webmd.com/osteoporosis/features/soda-osteoporosis" rel="nofollow">http://www.webmd.com/osteoporosis/features/soda-osteoporosis</a>).<p>Unfortunately there is a strong correlation between poverty and soda consumption. (<a href="http://www.livescience.com/35127-poverty-soda-pop-consumption-101103.html" rel="nofollow">http://www.livescience.com/35127-poverty-soda-pop-consumptio...</a>) So if you want to make a real impact you're going to have to make this cheap and easy enough to be sold in bulk at Walmart. (Please excuse the stereotyping, it is, of course, not this simple.)
Up next: C'mode, the smart toilet that knows what you've been eating, and offers helpful advice intended to prevent indigestion and weight gain, while optimizing your grocery list and restaurant reservations.
$99 for a smart cup that will add to the list of items I have to regularly charge.<p>Seems like a cool concept, but it's too expensive and the idea of having YET ANOTHER item to charge really pushes me away.<p>I love that people are doing these kinds of things, though.
I'm wonder if this means we've hit peak 'smart<x>', or if we're still some distance out.<p>Although I do like the hydration level stuff, I'm just not certain I think a $200($99 if you get in early) cup is the best solution for it.
I'm going to wait until I get more information before I pass judgement on it...<p>But I wonder if they purposely delay displaying the contents of the liquid. It seemed a bit comical in the video when the guy pours something into the cup and it takes a couple of seconds for the animation to run before it displays, "beer"<p>I think you'll get a lot of poking at that aspect of it because humans generally know what they are pouring into the cup, so taking so long to identify it makes it seem slow/laggy. It gives the feeling of "why does it need 5 seconds to tell that it's water. I know it's water instantly, why doesn't it as well?"
This is pretty nifty.<p>Of course the problem is I need to carry it everywhere and empty my drinks into it for it to really work. If I have to carry it everywhere, I have to make sure it's charged. So now before I go out in the morning I have yet another device that I need to ensure is fully charged for the rest of the day.
That's very damn cool technology-wise. It would probably be useful in some sci-fi setting where you are provided with many unknown substances and you need to detect whether something is drinkable or not.
This is very interesting. Automating parts of self-measurement is a good way to get people to do it.<p>I could use this to cut down on the caffeine... lol... would be cool if the lid locks shut after 400mg of caffeine. No more!
The product seems pretty cool, but people <i>really do</i> use the spacebar to scroll.<p>Headers like the one on this site make doing so very difficult. There's probably a CSS correction that can be applied.
The monetization on this seems extremely likely to be selling drinking habit data to specific brands, since it can recognize brands and even varieties within brands.
>In most cases, you will see the specific brands and flavors of what you are drinking when you open the app.<p>It'd be very interesting to know how the heck this thing works.
OMG, At least a device to tell me when i'm thirty ! I'm just waiting for another device to tell me when i'm hungry and then, i could replace my brain, stomac and body by stupid pieces of hardware.
That's the product i was looking all my life, for sure !
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