Cups That Trick Your Taste Buds

When you sip a drink, the flavor you experience is based mostly on smell: as aromas waft into the nasal cavity, they cue your brain to conjure specific tastes (in tandem with your tongue). That’s the concept behind the Right Cup, a product that claims it can make water seem to taste like juice or soda by infusing the cup’s polymer lining with one of four scents: mixed berry, orange (below left), lemon-lime or apple (below right). To fund mass production, inventor Isaac Lavi is launching a crowdfunding campaign on Nov. 17; he expects the cups, which will retail for $35 each, to start shipping in the spring.

–Julie Shapiro