Okay, I’m just going to come right out and say it; just because you can make something doesn’t always mean that you should. Here is a “smart” water bottle that helps track your fluid consumption and your hydration needs. Do we really need a $50 battery-operated bottle to tell us how much we need to drink? Well, I may be a skeptic on this one, but clearly there are many others who think this is a great idea. Trago is the company behind this concept, and their Kickstarter campaign blew right through their $50,000 funding goal in just 10 days. So what do I know?
The concept is intriguing. It uses an ultrasonic transducer to measure the distance between the liquid in the stainless steel bottle and the smart cap. From this, it calculates how much liquid is in the bottle. The sensor does more, however; it can also sense when you’re drinking, so it can track when and how much you drink. It pairs with a free app that works with your smartphone and your wearable devices to combine information about the weather, your location,your body type, and the intensity and duration of your activity. And for those of you who are planet-friendly tree-huggers, it even keeps count of how many disposable plastic bottles you’ve avoided using by refilling your Trago bottle. The cap is designed to be a standard size, so you can also use it on other water bottles.
I still think that $50 for a bottle cap that tells you how much you’ve had to drink seems a bit over the top, but I can see how it’s a fit for some people. It’s part of the whole “gamification” of our personal health, where we want to “keep score” on everything that we can so that we can “win” when we achieve our goals. And this certainly will help some people make healthier choices. Ultimately, that’s what’s important and if this is a product that can help you get where you need to be, then it’s great.
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