Hey this is cool. A drinking cup that monitors your hydration status plus other intakes. It recognises any liquid that is poured into it – identifying and reporting back the fluid volume consumed as well as nutritional content like calories and caffeine.
There is a wide range of possible uses for this, and the nutritional intake and hydration status of athletes is just one of them. The idea is great, but maybe it is not the ideal solution yet.
The problem is that in order for it to accurately track your intake you need to put all your fluids into the same cup. It does not seem very good for an athlete, it is not something you could easily carry around while exercising. It would be hard to mix drinks too. You can’t just have a drink of water while waiting for your coffee to cool down. You’ll be forever washing this cup (it is not dishwasher safe). What about at the pub after a game? You will get a few stares when you get the barman to fill your own cup, and you can’t beat a beer from an ice-cold glass.
I look forward to seeing more innovations along this line, it could be the start of something.
UPDATE: the company that produced this product has shut down. Hopefully, the idea is not dead and there will be something similar one day soon.