Gatorade isn’t the first company that comes to mind when you think of tech, but the sports drink brand is working on a few gadgets designed to boost your athletic prowess. We got a chance to see some prototypes at Gatorade’s Fuel Lab, a pop-up at South by Southwest Interactive in Austin this week.
The company is working on a smart cap for a personalized bottle with LED lighting that reminds you when you need to hydrate and shows how close you are to meeting your water intake goals for the day. The cap is also customized with your name and a pattern of your choosing.
Gatorade is developing blends of its drinks that are tailored to your specific needs, from calories to electrolytes to sodium, and will ship those designer fuel pods directly to your door. Just add some water to your bottle, plug a pod into the top of the cap, and shake to mix. I designed my own bottle at the South by Southwest Fuel Lab, but only got to pick my flavor.
Gatorade Gatorade is developing a smart bottle cap that measures your fluid intake.
How will Gatorade create a drink designed just for you? Well, it’s working on a patch that you apply to your skin. The patch, which in its current form looks like an oversized Band-Aid, analyzes your sweat and relays the data to Gatorade so it can create a customized formula based on your fluid intake needs.
The smart cap is expected to ship this year, but the sweat patch is still in early days of development. Gatorade is also working on a line of food that includes snack bars and yogurt for athletes to eat in their down time.
While I typically stay away from supplements, protein powders, and sports drinks, I’m tempted to try a blend of Gatorade designed just for me based on my body’s needs to see if it really enhances my workout performance.