Water Bottle Uses Scents to Encourage Hydration

The Flavour Bottle uses a scented lid to trick the brain into perceiving flavor. (Image via Kickstarter)

With all of the technological innovations related to water bottles and drinkware, companies have created a lot of ways for their drinwkare products to promote hydration. Some connect to apps to alert users when they need a drink, others are more mobile so people can take them anywhere. This new water bottle design uses the senses to make users crave their water even more.

For some people, the lack of flavor in water makes it unappealing. Hence why flavored water is so expensive. But, the problem there is that there are added ingredients, rather than just pure water. This water bottle, designed by a 20-year-old pre-med student, tricks the brain into thinking water is flavored.

The Flavour Bottle is currently on Kickstarter, and has raised more than $16,000 so far. Here's how it works: The bottle has a scented silicone spout. Smell accounts for 80 percent of humans' perception of taste. So, basically, if you smell something while you're drinking flavorless water, your brain will think you're drinking flavored water.

So far, backers can pre-order water bottles with strawberry, watermelon, orange, grape and cola-flavored bottles.

"I am a future medical student who had the idea when I was in my college anatomy class and learned about the connection between taste and smell," the creator, Saef Munir, told Digital Trends. "I've worked on this product for the past three years, starting with a scented water bottle cap, scented ring, and eventually to prototype scented straw and then scented spout. The straw worked the best because drinking it through it allowed a person to breathe in while drinking, while the ring and cap did not work as well because a person had to consciously smell and drink at the same time. That is how we came to create the scented spout."

The bottle starts at $20, and is set to hit the street in July.