This Cup Can Tell the Difference Between Coke and Pepsi

Like many other health-conscious individuals out there, I like to indulge in a cold-pressed juice from time to time (OK, pretty often). But all the juiced kale in the world isn't going to help me look better in a bathing suit when I'm also consuming hundreds of calories of pineapple juice along with it. The problem is, it's hard to determine the calorie content of whatever you're drinking unless it comes in a bottle with the nutrition information printed on the side. That's where the Vessyl comes in.

The Vessyl is a cup that automatically knows what you're drinking, and keeps track of it in real-time. It measures caffeine, calories, fat, protein, sodium, and sugar, and provides an estimation for how much you need to consume in order to achieve peak hydration. It can even identify the exact brand of beverage you're drinking—which means it knows the difference between Coke and Pepsi.

I got a chance to see the Vessyl in action—sort of. It was a prototype, so I wasn't able to see it work its calorie-counting magic in person. But it did accurately detect a bottled Starbucks Frappuccino, which was pretty impressive.

Mark One, the company behind the Vessyl, was co-founded in part by Yves Béhar, who designed the Jambox speaker and Up activity tracker for Jawbone. Béhar also designed the Vessyl, which shares a similar industrial aesthetic with those devices. The prototype I saw appeared to be made of a sturdy matte plastic that was smooth on one half and ridged on the other.

On one of those ridges is a single-line vertical display that shows the nutrition metric of your choice shortly after you pour it in the cup, as well as how close you are to achieving your ideal hydration level. The rest of the information is gathered in a companion app for Android and iOS devices. The Vessyl connects with mobile devices via Bluetooth 4.0.

To activate the display, all you have to do is lift the cup and tilt it slightly. It should get five to seven days of battery life, and can be wirelessly charged in an hour through a coaster that comes with the device. I didn't get to see the coaster, or a working version of the sliding, spill-proof lid. And the build of the app I saw was mostly just a static screen, though it does have an attractive layout for delivering deeper information than the single line on the side of the cup. But the Vessyl is a reasonably attractive cup that holds up to 13 ounces and wouldn't look out of place in the modern household.

The Vessyl is available for pre-order now, and the company is seeking to raise $50,000 in pre-sales before beginning production. The device will retail for a steep $199, though it will cost $99 for early backers (which is still pricey, but that seems to be the going-rate for many activity trackers, as well as the Hapifork).

The Vessyl is a brilliant idea, but I'm really curious to see an actual working model. Though it's certainly pricey, if it can pull off what Mark One is promising, it has the potential to gain significant traction in the digital health field. After all, even if you aren't concerned with the nutritional content of your green smoothie, wouldn't it be cool to see whether the cup can truly pass the Pepsi challenge? 

For more, check out our picks for the 25 Best Fitness Apps in the slideshow above.