MIT Media Lab students Jackie Lee and Hyemin Chung have designed wireless-enabled wine glasses (actually, big tumblers) so couples can imbibe “together,” even when they’re geographically apart. From New Scientist:
When either person picks up a glass, red LEDs on their partner’s glass glow gently. And when either puts the glass to their lips, sensors make white LEDs on the rim of the other glass glow brightly, so you can tell when your other half takes a sip. Following tests in separate labs, Lee says the wireless glasses really do “help people feel as if they are sharing a drinking experience together”.
They’ll present their work at the CHI (Computer Human Interaction) 2006 conference next month in Montreal.
Link (Thanks, Vann Hall and Greg Benjamin!)
UPDATE: Here’s a link to the project page. Link (Thanks, Eric Paulos!)