Please log in.
Before you can vote, you need to register. Please log in or create an account.
Product: Drink Container: Mug
Stats Mug   (+16)  [vote for, against]

There's a probably a market in the bored office-worker demographic for a mug which displays on its exterior statistics relating to the owner's tea (or coffee) drinking habits. Simple accelerometers and a selection of volume, temperature and other sensors would be linked to a small processor in the base of the mug and then to LCD displays around the outside. Example statistics might be:

- average time between sips
- average temperature at which tea is drunk and current beverage temperature
- steadiness of drinker's hand (using the accelerometers)
- average number of cups of tea a day
- total number of cups of tea this year
- percentage of this cup of tea left in mug
- beverage strength (based on a comparision of light levels at the top and at the deepest part of the mug)
- etc., etc.
-- hippo, Aug 17 2009

Will it have a docking station ? Will it be able to upload stats to a host PC ? Will the high end model have Bluetooth or WiFi ?
-- 8th of 7, Aug 17 2009


[8th] I'm not sure about the docking station, but certainly some sort of communication with a server application on your PC for the heavy-duty analysis (such as that which [Ian] suggests) would be essential. Then, having got your statistics online, grouping and cross-comparision between all Stats Mug owners can be done and you would be able to see, for example, what percentile of beverage temperature you drink your tea at.
-- hippo, Aug 17 2009


Mightn't this feedback-at-source mechanism encourage dangerous attempts to skew the figures? e.g. The building of tea drinking robots who "consume" a beverage at a temperature 2 (or even 3!) standard deviations from the mean, allowing for bragging rights "You see that spike at 94°, that's me that is."
-- zen_tom, Aug 17 2009


// attempts to skew the figures //

No need to build robots - just hack the app on the PC and inject some false stats.

This is much more a user-orientated biofeedback device - giving an up-to-the-minute graphical display of the exact extent to which the ingested tannins are slowly pickling various internal organs.....
-- 8th of 7, Aug 17 2009


oye, who emptied me slops?
-- po, Aug 17 2009


[1] I run WorkRave anti RSI software. Given a link to this, WorkRave will be able to take drinks breaks into account.
[2] I assume this is compatible with the little drinks holder thing that slides out of the front of my PC when I press the 'eject' button? [+]
-- RattyBunyip, Aug 17 2009


It'd be too embarrassing. Uhmm for some of us at least ;-)
-- blissmiss, Aug 17 2009


[bliss] You can conceal a heavy beverage habit by using three or four mugs with different 'identities'.
[po] Is that a euphemism?
-- hippo, Aug 17 2009


Will this be an open or a proprietary architecture ? Will there be specialised plugins for the monitoring app for different markets ? In the UK, a biscuit-dunking monitor would be useful; percentage of tea absorbed by biscuits rather than being drunk, sludge accumulation rate, failure/breakage rate, successful "saves" of a detached, floating biscuit portion using a teaspoon or ruler ?

The whole thing could be linked to a Lone Worker alarm, with suitable timing tweaks; Select "Programmer" and the alarm sounds if there's more than a minute between movements, but select "lawyer", and the app only polls the mug when changing from standard to daylight saving time, or back again.
-- 8th of 7, Aug 17 2009


There could be two of them. +
-- csea, Aug 17 2009


+

Needs to be dishwasher safe
-- DenholmRicshaw, Aug 17 2009


// we need a new ieee tea telemetry standard. //

[marked-for-tagline]

Would that be 802.11t by any chance ?
-- 8th of 7, Aug 17 2009


hee hee [hippo] never thought of that!
-- po, Aug 17 2009


WiMaxwell House?
-- Jinbish, Aug 17 2009


We'd have to ask the High Tea department.
-- coprocephalous, Aug 17 2009


Well, everyone likes nice cup of tea and a pun ....

Could bring a whole new meaning to "Internet Café" ....

// Anno of the month nominee //

Makes a change from being [UB]'s "Anus of the month nominee" ... then again, there's a week to go yet.
-- 8th of 7, Aug 17 2009


autonomously powered by a ring of solar=cell material and/or thermo-electric thingy... I'm in [+}
-- FlyingToaster, Aug 17 2009


// I have a deep and abiding respect for you //

I think we need to have a word with Doctor about maybe reducing your medication for once. ......
-- 8th of 7, Aug 17 2009



random, halfbakery