This week’s Smart Health roundup features a cup that knows what you’re chugging down, a hoodie that covertly sends messages, and a headband that can relieve stress.

Vessyl

We’ve all been told that we need to drink at least eight glasses of water a day to keep our body functioning at its optimum level, but it can be hard to track throughout a busy day.

Keeping tabs on such behavior is what Mark One had in mind when it created Vessyl, a smart cup that not only tracks how much liquid has been consumed, but can also determine what was poured in it, giving the user real-time feedback on how many calories a certain drink contains.

Vessyl’s design is the result of a collaboration between Mark One and fuseproject.  It features a spill-proof lid and an indicator on the side that lets the user know his hydration status. Vessyl charges wirelessly, and a single charge lasts up to a week. It works independently of a smartphone, but with an iOS or Android app users can set hydration goals and more readily and keep track of liquids throughout the day.

The sensors in Vessyl analyze the liquid at the molecular level, making it smart enough to even determine the specific brand of beverage poured in.  The cup itself informs the user how much liquid has been consumed and what is being consumed, though not the specific brand — you need the app for that.  Vessyl aims to help people stay healthy by giving real-time feedback on how many calories a drink contains, and whether any toxins are present.

At the moment, Vessyl is pre-selling for $99 and will start shipping early 2015.  Its retail price will be $199.

The Smart Hoodie

There are moments in a student’s life when pulling out their phone from a pocket to send a quick message can sometimes land them in big trouble, especially during a lecture or exam.  This predicament has led two New York University’s Interactive Telecommunications Program (ITP) students to come up with the Smart Hoodie which allows the wearer to secretly send pre-programmed messages when certain parts of the hoodie are touched.

Rucha Patwardhan and Alina Balean decided to put the technology found in cellphones into a hoodie, adding sensors to help the wearer perform natural gestures in order to send covert messages.  The Smart Hoodie has an Arduino GSM shield which allows it to connect to the Internet via GPRS and send messages, with sensors strategically placed on different parts of the hoodie such as the hood itself, and the sleeves.

The wearer can roll up the left sleeve to send a message informing the receiver that the wearer is busy and can’t talk right now; putting up the hoodie could instantly send an ‘I miss you’ message to your mom, and pushing on the right sleeve sends a message telling a caller that it’s now okay to chat.

Patwardhan and Balean believes that their Smart Hoodie can one day be used as a safety device, as it will allow the wearer to discreetly send an SOS message, or send their current location to emergency contacts without arousing suspicion.

The two are still learning about how to pre-program messages, but in the future, there will be a web service, or maybe even an app that will allow users to customize the messages they want to pre-program into the hoodie.

Muse

People have different methods to relieve stress.  Some perform breathing exercises, some do yoga, and some eat chocolate. Now there’s one more option to consider — a headband that could take away stress altogether.

Created by InteraXon, Muse is defined as a brain sensing headband that helps a person do away with stress by teaching a person how to keep things under control.

Muse has seven finely tuned EEG sensors embedded in the headband to measure brain activity, much like how a heart monitor keeps track of your heart. Using an Android or iOS app, you can see if your brain is stressed or calm. A user just needs to wear it three minutes a day and follow the scientifically tested exercises, learning over time how to better manage stress.

Muse is priced at $299 and if you order now, you can expect it to be delivered within six to eight weeks.

image courtesy Vessyl