Sure, the Plug Mug, Link Mug and Dunk Mug come with a unique range of features. However, they’re as far from “perfection” as it gets. The Perfect Coffee Mug, however, carries the highest degree of quality.
What defines perfection? In the case of this invention from the Fraunhofer Institute in Germany, the cup is able to keep the coffee at an ideal temperature (which, according to the same guys, is 58 degrees Celsius) for up to 30 minutes, all without having to put a lid on the mouth.
Created by a team of physicists, the mug is built out of a swirly-looking aluminum frame that is coated with ceramic along the thick edges. The gaps between the frames are filled with a phase changing material (the kind typically used in winter clothing) that provides the heating mechanism (the material strives to keep itself in the same temperature once it absorbs heat from the coffee). As such, your morning beverage remains scalding hot without having to plug anything in.
Since this is the first version of the Perfect Coffee Mug, it looks ugly as sin. The cup’s functionality is brilliant, though, and, if it isn’t too expensive, will likely find a good amount of takers. Even more impressive, it can work on the reverse, allowing the mug to keep liquids in cold temperature using a different type of phase changing material.
The Fraunhofer guys are still looking for partners willing to manufacture the mug, so don’t expect it anytime in the immediate future.
[via Spiegel]