Tuesday 24 June 2014

Vessyl: A Smart Cup That Counts Liquid Calories

By Amy Schlinger for Life by DailyBurn

How many calories do you think you drink daily? According to the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, the average American sips down 400 calories a day, 37 percent of which comes from sugar-sweetened beverages. So how do you get to the bottom of what’s in your cup—especially without always knowing the exact nutritional facts of its contents? And without counting calories all day long? The solution could be right at your fingertips, with a simple tilt of a glass.

Vessyl is a cup designed to automatically assess what’s been poured into it and track what you’re drinking in real-time. Put any type of liquid into the cup, whether it be soda or juice or coffee, and the Vessyl’s advanced sensing technology breaks down the fluid to a molecular level in order to identify the beverage. It can even differentiate brands like Pepsi versus Coke, plus, it gives caloric make up including total grams of sugar, fat, protein, sodium and caffeine.

Vessyl
The cup then connects through low energy Bluetooth technology to an accompanying iPhone or Android app. This allows the cup to utilize Pryme, its hydration estimation portal which gives users personal recommendations to make healthier choices, and track your habits to see if you’re making progress toward your goals. Choose a lens within the app—calories, sugar content, fat, protein, sodium or caffeine—tilt the cup to the side and watch as its discreet screen comes to light telling you information on what’s in the cup. The information is automatically transferred to the app for effortless analysis.

Drinks are one of the easiest ways to take in excess calories, sugar and fat. And because liquid calories are so plentiful these days, you could triple the amount of corn syrup recommended for a health diet in just a few sips. Justin Lee, CEO of Mark One, the company behind Vessyl, noticed this and wanted to create a way people could keep track of intake in real-time.

“There are plenty of devices that track activity, but Vessyl is the first ever consumer product to automatically track your consumption in real time,” he says. “Beverages are a major source of unnoticed calories, and Vessyl gives you the tools to easily know what you’re really drinking and motivate you to make healthier choices.”

Vessyl has a non-stick interior and comes with a spill-proof lid and coaster-like charger. One hour on the charging station gives the cup a week’s worth of battery—perfect for those on-the-go. The Vessyl is currently available for presale for $99 with a $50,000 consumer demand goal to begin production. The device will eventually retail for $199 and the first batch is expected to ship in 2015.

But how smart will this smart cup really be? We won’t know until we sip.

To learn more about the Vessyl or preorder one at a discounted price, head to MyVessyl.com.
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/06/20/vessyl-a-smart-cup-that-counts-liquid-calories.html

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