MIT researchers toast Wi-Fi love connections

Seven hundred thousand married couples are living long distances from each other in different cities. E-mails and unlimited cell phone minutes may help shorten the gap, but now these couples might not even have to miss sharing a single meal together.

Jacky Lee, a research student at Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Media Laboratory, and Hyemin Chung, Lee's lab partner, took their desire to stay connected to home — Taiwan and Korea, respectively — and created what they call “Lover's Cups.”

“We tried to use something around our desktop table, something we use every day, and turn it into another channel of communication,” Lee said. “The whole idea is about how we can transfer our feelings to someone we care about no matter how far away we are.”

The project began as an entire dining set, but later became focused solely on cups because “well, we just love cups,” Lee said. These Lover's Cups, the latest of which are crystal wine glasses, look ordinary except for tracks of LED lights that line the rim and sides. Sensors allow each cup to “know” what the other is doing. Simply picking up one causes computer-and-wireless technology to activate the LED lights of its paired cup. Regardless of how much geography separates them, when one partner takes a sip from his or her cup, the other's rim will glow. Continue drinking, and the lights down the side of the other go out one by one. Capacitive sensing techniques also indicate the liquid level and drinking action without any contact with the liquid itself.

Depending on the situation, the cups use different types of networking modules for transmitting and receiving sensing data. For distances within 30 meters, such as partygoers in the same room, the radio-frequency (RF) modules are effective peer-to-peer transceivers. For long distances, or across countries in Lee and Chung's case, data is sent and received through the Internet via RF transceivers connected to users' computers that act as access points for the Lover's Cups.

The Wi-Fi-activated cups are designed so loved ones can share in the act of drinking via their wireless connection. Recognizing common activities through implicit communication can be just as important as with voices and text, said the researchers. Specifically, the act of drinking allows users to lower their barriers, relax and feel as if they are sharing their time well.

“When you are taking a break, usually you need a drink — some coffee or a cup of water so that you can rejuvenate yourself,” Lee said. “You can shift your mental states to a better place. Also, it will make you think about something good, something happy or someone you love. We believe this kind of drinking is a very magical moment. We change ourselves a little bit, biologically and also mentally.”

At this time, the Lover's Cups are still in the research prototype stage. The students, however, have done several independent studies, including one at Lee's own birthday celebration.

For Lee and Chung, the most important implication of the cups is they show that communication in daily life does not have to be limited by certain media forms, but also can be extended to more sensual, tactile and subtle actions. Chung said that technology should not been seen as a barrier to human interaction, but rather as a catalyst.

“Technology can improve not only communication between a computer and human, but also the communication between human and human,” Chung said. “Some people were maybe worried that computers or technology can hurt communication between people, but actually, we think computer technology can improve and help to enhance human-to-human communication.”

It might not bring them physically closer to their families in Korea and Taiwan, but it does allow Lee's mother to remind him always get his eight glasses of water each day. For now, that is enough for him.