
Vessyl, the smart cup that knows exactly what you're drinking - tfe
https://www.myvessyl.com/
======
saganus
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…".

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.

(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)

So am I alone in this? is it so rare for people to ask how a device that
claims near-magical properties work?

~~~
mscarborough
No, it seems pretty basic. If you had sat through the video it would still be
'magic'.

But hey, you can get it for $99 right now instead of $199 later!

~~~
saganus
So even the video doesn't explain this? Well that was unexpected. I really
really find it odd that people that can engineer something like this don't
even want to show a _little bit_ of the magic they created? Sounds like snake-
oil to me then.. even if it's not, that's how it looks.

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normloman
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).

I want something that simplifies my life. Not something that needlessly
complicates something as simple as drinking without giving me added benefits.

~~~
endersshadow
Roofies. It solves the problem of roofies.

~~~
ldng
Not really. I don't see discotheques or bars buying it. They generally buy the
cheapest plastic glass they can find for the former and the later have drink
companies offering them free glasses. As for private parties, where your cup
is likely to be lost or broken, people won't bring this expensive cups with
them.

To me it's more, "lets surf on the Internet of Things". As already said, I
don't see the need. Maybe if one day it become as cheap as normal cups. But
not now.

Not I saying roofies are not a problem. Just that is not a solution, IMHO.

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timothya
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).

This is interesting from a technical perspective, though. How does it know
what's in the cup?

~~~
jvandyke
I'm going to take a guess and say that it contains a small device which uses
an absorption spectroscopy technique
([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Absorption_spectroscopy](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Absorption_spectroscopy))
or something similar. Given a large database of known beverages and their
constituent parts, it could compare and find a match based on a known set of
gaps in the spectrum.

~~~
ivan_ah
Thx for the link. It's interesting that a couple of years ago this technology
would have required thousands of dollars of chemistry equipment and now you
can build it into a cup.

Very cool.

~~~
SideburnsOfDoom
> a couple of years ago this technology would have required thousands of
> dollars of chemistry equipment and now you can build it into a cup.

A $200 cup. [http://www.cnet.com/uk/news/vessyl-smart-cup-knows-the-
diffe...](http://www.cnet.com/uk/news/vessyl-smart-cup-knows-the-difference-
between-coke-and-pepsi/)

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iandanforth
I hope they are taking a page from the Tesla playbook. The people who _need_
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.

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 ([http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/sugary-drinks-
fa...](http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/sugary-drinks-fact-sheet/))
but the large doses of caffeine and phosphoric acid in Colas can do serious
damage to your bones! ([http://www.webmd.com/osteoporosis/features/soda-
osteoporosis](http://www.webmd.com/osteoporosis/features/soda-osteoporosis)).

Unfortunately there is a strong correlation between poverty and soda
consumption. ([http://www.livescience.com/35127-poverty-soda-pop-
consumptio...](http://www.livescience.com/35127-poverty-soda-pop-
consumption-101103.html)) 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.)

~~~
egypturnash
I think really what the people who "need" this device need is better access to
good food, and the money to buy it.

I mean, really, I am pretty sure most poor people know they kinda eat like
shit. If they had the money to spend on good food (prepared or raw materials),
and the time to sit in a restaurant for a half hour, or to cook stuff, they
probably would. A higher minimum wage, maybe even a basic income, would go a
lot further than "here is a $5 cup that can make you feel guilty about not
being able to afford to drink good things".

~~~
iandanforth
IMO it's an education problem. I used to work in bone density testing and
almost universally people were shocked to learn that cola might hurt their
bones. Ironically being heavy means higher estrogen levels and a heavier load
to carry (which is exercise for your bones) so the effect was sometimes
canceled out. But if you don't know that there is a lot of sugar in some
beverages, or you don't do the math to figure out how many servings of the
"low cal" beverage you're getting when you drink _multiple 2 liter bottles a
day_ then you're screwed!

Just like activity trackers can help improve health by improving awareness
(and yes, maybe some guilt) I still think any food/calorie tracking technology
could help. And remember here we're talking about nourishment for which there
is a nearly free and readily available alternative; water.

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orenmazor
I keep bouncing between "this is an excellently executed troll!" and "…does
this actually work?!"

~~~
owenversteeg
I'm guessing that it either uses absorption spectrography or a motor, two
electrodes, a balance, and a large database of mass/conductivity/viscosity
data.

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markbnj
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.

~~~
wuliwong
Hahahah, I feel that would be difficult to market but probably really useful.
I'm sure you can learn all types of things about yourself from your stool. I
guess when you sat down, it would have some voice recognition to know it was
you, like "Hello C'mode!"?

~~~
disillusioned
Weight and body fat, like the Withings scale.

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mcmillhj
It would be nice to know how it works, literally the only question I have is
not answered on the FAQ page.

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TheAceOfHearts
$99 for a smart cup that will add to the list of items I have to regularly
charge.

Seems like a cool concept, but it's too expensive and the idea of having YET
ANOTHER item to charge really pushes me away.

I love that people are doing these kinds of things, though.

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volker48
This sounds absurdly stupid. I thought it was a joke.

~~~
altschuler
Exactly my thought, the video seems satirical. Especially when the guy pours
beer in the cup and it tells him that it's beer, after which he gives it a
"that's right" nod.

~~~
sp332
It's more that it puts the info into your phone automatically. Of course _you_
know it's beer, but writing it down in a food journal is a bit of a hassle,
and doing math on it to see how many calories you drank each day this month is
tedious enough to be worth automating.

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nicholassmith
I'm wonder if this means we've hit peak 'smart<x>', or if we're still some
distance out.

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.

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swang
I'm going to wait until I get more information before I pass judgement on
it...

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"

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?"

~~~
disillusioned
His expression is _fantastic_, though. "I _am_ drinking beer!"

~~~
pyrohawk
What happens if you pour in american light beer? Does it say it is water?

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egypturnash
I wonder if it can tell when you're drinking Soylent.

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kolev
No information on how it works, what material it's made of, etc. The last
thing I want is all my liquid intake to go thru a plastic cup.

~~~
mikegreco
The FAQ states the inside is made of glass

~~~
kolev
I'm pretty sure it wasn't there when I checked as the TV show joke is below
that I read up to it, but anyway. Now they say "specialized glass". Still not
clear enough.

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dodders
Do I have to take this to the pub for my beer too?

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woah
April fools comes early.

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navs
This is pretty nifty.

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.

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sliverstorm
I have only one question.

Can that web page be any more resource-intensive? It's basically a slideshow
as I scroll.

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silverlight
This can really sample how much sugar is in a custom smoothie? If so that's
amazing.

~~~
toomuchtodo
Can you determine the amount of sugar in a liquid using a low-voltage current?
Then possibly, yes.

After some quick googling, it appears this may use the same principal that
diabetes glucose monitors use.

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Geee
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.

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ivan_ah
This is very interesting. Automating parts of self-measurement is a good way
to get people to do it.

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!

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JustResign
The product seems pretty cool, but people _really do_ use the spacebar to
scroll.

Headers like the one on this site make doing so very difficult. There's
probably a CSS correction that can be applied.

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colinyoung
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.

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yankoff
>In most cases, you will see the specific brands and flavors of what you are
drinking when you open the app.

It'd be very interesting to know how the heck this thing works.

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vicbrooker
I'm interested to see how it handles minestrone soup...

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qdot76367
Whoever writes the first beer pong app for this will be an instant
billionaire. Or will be invited to a lot of parties. One of those two.

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andylei
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poe's_law](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poe's_law)

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dalore
I like this. I would also like a toilet that analysed my waste and tell me
things.

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vans
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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skjfhskjhf
For people with no short term memory or taste buds, wave of the future...

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ing33k
I thought it was mac pro

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SrslyJosh
You've gotta be fucking kidding me.

