Group 4 Members
Caroline Rozendo, Choonghyo Lee, Jaleesa Trapp, Jerry Wei-Hua Yao, Jianing Tao, Xiaojiao Chen
Video
Concept
Drink Me uses the combination of smell and color to invite a friend to have a cup of coffee. When a cup of coffee (or another hot liquid) is placed on the sending drink coaster, the receiving coaster changes colors and emits the smell of coffee, signaling that it’s time to have a drink.
Affordances
There are three affordances that will allow users to interact with Drink Me without having to spend a lot of time figuring out how it works. The affordances that allow for simple interactions are scents, coffee mugs, and drink coasters.
The affordance of scent is that smell is closely linked to human memories and emotions. Emitting the smell of coffee will evoke a memory and encourage the receiver of the message to pour a cup of coffee.
The affordance of a coffee mug is the handle. Users will know to pick up their hot mug by using the handle.
A drink coaster is an indication that a cup should not be placed on a bare table. The drink coaster will encourage the sender of the message to place their cup on their coaster to invite the receiver to have a drink with them.
Implementation
Drink Me was implemented using a combination of fabrication, sensors, code, and coffee mugs. The two drink coasters were created with a 3D printed base and a waterjet cut top made of metal, and painted with thermochromic ink.
The inside of the coasters contains a photon, peltier sensor, and a color (RGB) sensor. The RGB sensor detects the color of the coaster that is sending a message. If the coaster does not have a warm drink (45 degrees celsius or warmer) the paint is orange. When a coffee mug containing liquid warmer than 45 degrees celsius is placed on the coaster, the paint will turn to yellow. Once the color sensor detects the color yellow, it will trigger the peltier in the receiving drink coaster to heat up, changing the color of the thermochromic ink and heating the wax that will emit the smell of coffee. The change in color of the receiving drink coaster and the smell of coffee is an invitation to have a drink with the person on the sending end.
