Meet B4RM4N, a smart connected shaker to pretend that you actually know how to mix cocktails. B4RM4N connects to your phone using Bluetooth and will tell you exactly what to do to make the perfect cocktail. And the best part is that you get feedback in real time to tell you precisely when to stop pouring.
B4RM4N will cost you between $89 and $159 depending on how early you back theKickstarter campaign. The app will be available on both iOS and Android. And yes, you can wash your shaker without risking ruining it.
Back in July, I met the two co-founders at a startup event in Paris, and had the opportunity to challenge them a bit on their Kickstarter project. Behind the scene, the shaker uses a precision weight sensor to figure out how much alcohol or juice you are pouring into your shaker.
You get instant feedback from the row of LEDs on the side, as well as sound indicators. You can also watch the progress on your phone’s screen. When you are done with an ingredient, your phone will tell you what you need to do next.
The most cumbersome parts of this process are probably selecting your cocktail recipe and pairing your phone with your shaker. But chances are that your drink will taste better if you don’t have any past experience in cocktail mixing.
B4RM4N stands out when it comes to design. There are a lot of little details that shows that the team cares deeply about this shaker. First, it’s a good looking shaker with a shiny mirror finish — it still looks and feels like a shaker. The sound effects are delightful — I couldn’t help but smile the first time I heard these sounds. And the LEDs will change depending on the ingredient you are using right now.
While the app is a central part of this cocktail system, I don’t know how good it will actually be as I didn’t play with it yet. As long as there is no latency between the device and the phone, and the cocktail database is big enough, it should be good enough.
But the team also has the opportunity to go the extra mile and create a discovery system for cocktails. B4RM4N will be sitting on a lot of useful data from its users.
In other words, if the app is good and the team can ship its device sooner rather than later, the B4RM4N shaker will be a nice addition to your kitchen. I am confident that the company will be able to beat the $100,000 Kickstarter goal, just because you don’t see smart shakers that often.
thanks to original post: http://techcrunch.com/2014/10/28/b4rm4n-is-a-smart-shaker-that-turns-the...
