Process

After deciding to focus on the experience of sharing a drink, we brainstormed some different forms that our product could take. Ideas ranged from building the whole drinking cup from scratch to building just a handle (all with embedded components). In the end, we decided to go with a handle that could be attached to any cup that was tall enough.

Then we detailed our interaction scenario. We wanted a person to be able to turn on their device, know if the other person was available, tap their glass to signal to the other person that they wanted to clink glasses, and to ultimately "clink" glasses. 

This interaction boiled down to the following 5 main states: device signals that other person is on, device is waiting for the other person to tap their glass, device signals when other person has tapped, device is waiting for other person to clink their glass, and finally, device clinks. 

The main physical components that we used per handle were an accelerometer, a solenoid, and an LED. The accelerometer would measure when a person has tapped or made the clinking motion. The solenoid would emulate physical taps and clinks. The LED would be used as a signaling device.

The remainder of the process was split between software and hardware.