Dezeen Magazine

Smart cup by Yves Behar knows precisely what's in your drink

Yves Behar has designed a smart cup called Vessyl, which detects what you're drinking and displays its nutritional contents in real time.

Behar's studio Fuseproject was commissioned by San-Francisco-based scientist Justin Lee to design Vessyl, which has been in development for seven years.

Vessyl cup by Yves Behar_dezeen_50sq

When used with the Vessyl mobile application, the cup can display the levels of fat, calories, sugars and caffeine in any liquid poured inside it.

"Integrating breakthrough technology into everyday products is always a challenge, at the same time, this is exactly how design makes tech products easily adoptable in life," Behar told Dezeen.

"For Vessyl, we made the cup comfortable and familiar and made the display of the information discreet and only visible when needed."

Vessyl cup by Yves Behar_dezeen_6

Each cup has a spill-proof lid and non-stick interior, as well as a front-facing screen that displays nutritional information.

Vessyl can be switched on by tilting it, and an accompanying coaster acts as a wireless power source that can provide a week's worth of battery life after a 30-minute charge.

"The faceted exterior surface is just enough of an indicator that something might be different about the cup, and provides it with a porcelain-like surface reflectivity," said Behar.

Vessyl cup by Yves Behar_dezeen_2

Behar has led the design on a number of other smart products including an Android-based game console called Ouya and a range of wearable technology for Jawbone. Last week Behar unveiled a design for a device that could create a "connected garden" and automatically water thirsty plants. 

"Every tech product on the body like Jawbone or in the home like August is different," he told Dezeen.

"But there are definitely principles that apply across the board for me such as integration in everyday life and discretion."

Vessyl cup by Yves Behar_dezeen_3

The cup also features a built-in hydration detector called Pryme, which uses a vertical bar of light to tell the user how much water they need to consume, once they've entered details including their age, weight and height into the Vessyl app.

Vessyl cup by Yves Behar_dezeen_7

"We are frequently unaware of the impact things we put into our bodies can have –  think about all the unlabelled things we drink, like a homemade smoothie, a cappuccino from your local barista or a mixed drink at the bar," said Justin Lee, Vessyl's CEO and co-founder.

"All of these beverages affect our bodies in different ways and Vessyl helps us understand their impact."