Reflections

While many forms of communication already exist to connect people living away from each other, we realized that IoT can be a very powerful medium to influence a person's mood through small gestures and ambient indicators. It is not possible to always call or text a loved one and in such cases, receiving a small signal that shows that someone is thinking of you can make your day.  

Initially, we had a few issues with the RGB LED strips due to the extensive wiring required for the MOSFETs. However, once we got it working, the result was beautiful and justified the effort.

While working on this concept, we could think of so many more dimensions that we can add to it. One of them was the use of a temperature sensor so that the mug could communicate to it's mirror about whether a hot or cold liquid is poured into it through changing the color of the LEDs. This can indicate to a person the weather their partner is experiencing or even their mood .