You can track your food intake, your exercise, your sleep and now... your liquid consumption.
There's a new "smartcup" (yes, you read that right) that can tell you exactly what you put inside of it. The cup, called Vessyl, recognizes the liquid you pour into it and records all of the water, soda, juice, beer and other potables you drink on your smartphone. Here's what Vessyl looks like (in its three available colors):
Here's what it looks like when Vessyl recognizes a beverage:
The technology is serious. So serious, in fact, that its makers claim it can tell Coke from Pepsi, differentiate lemon Snapple from mango Snapple and figure out what you put into your homemade smoothie or cocktail. It's not just identifying what's in your drink -- you presumably know what you're pouring into your own cup -- but it's also keeping track of your hydration, caffeine, sugar, calories and more.
Vessyl has a hydration tracker visible when you tilt the cup. A "hydration line" will show how much fluid you drank that day. When you're fully hydrated, you'll see a little blue dot at the top of the line.
It's well established that proper hydration is key to a healthy lifestyle. Theoretically, Vessyl can even help with weight loss. A 2009 study in the "American Journal of Clinical Nutrition" found that cutting liquid calories can be more effective for weight loss than cutting calories from food.
On top of all the apps and gadgets designed to track exercise, sleep and calories, can you really imagine yourself carrying this 13-ounce cup around with you everywhere you go? Will you bring it to bars, restaurants and parties? Only time will tell.
Of course, take all this with a grain of soda pop sodium. We'll only really know if Vessyl is reliable after reviewers and the general public get to test it. You can pre-order Vessyl for $99. It will ship in early 2015, at which point its price will jump to $199.