Your Next Cocktail Could Defy Gravity With The Levitating CUP

Your Next Cocktail Could Defy Gravity With The Levitating CUP

Diehard cocktail aficionados swear by serving specific drinks in the correct glass. I wonder what they will make of the Levitating CUP, a cocktail glass designed to float above a portable base, in seeming defiance of gravity.

All images: Joe Paglione/Levitating CUP

It’s the brainchild of Joe Paglione, CEO of a Chicago-based startup company called Levitating CUP. They have launched a Kickstarter campaign to raise the necessary capital to bring the products to market. There are cocktail glasses, dessert cups, beer cups, plates and even pillows for optimal presentation — just in case you want to throw a full dinner party without the usual coasters and place mats.

How does it work? The metallic base holds an electromagnet, with a corresponding magnet in the cup itself so it can appear to float weightlessly in mid-air. Per the Website:

Borrowing similar physics principles to Quantum Locking (also known as “Flux Pinning”), our Levitating CUP uses magnetic levitation, or more specifically “Electromagnetic Suspension”, in which electromagnets are used to stabilise the levitating cup which has a magnetic base.

There’s also a universal power adaptor kit that comes with every cup, which means you can impress drinking buddies all around the world. And there are both wired and wireless versions of the Levitating CUP. If you get the latter, once it’s charged, you can waft from room to room with a floating beverage with the attachable “levitating assist”:

Your Next Cocktail Could Defy Gravity With The Levitating CUP

If you really want to be sneaky, try mounting the base underneath the table and let the glasses float above:

Your Next Cocktail Could Defy Gravity With The Levitating CUP

Sure, it’s a gimmick, and even Paglione admits it won’t enhance the flavours of your preferred beverage via aeration or cooling. And they’re not cheap: The lowest price is $US139 ($183) for a single cup and wired base ($US149 [$196] for a wireless base). But electromagnetic levitation is cool in general. Plus it could make for an amusing conversation piece at your next dinner party. The Kickstarter campaign just passed the halfway point of reaching its $US50,000 ($65,743) goal, with 21 days left to go. The company plans to start shipping the cups in October.

[Laughing Squid]


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