14 DAY TRIAL // Computers and gadgets are turning into all-in-one devices more and more with each day, but the same cannot be said about home appliances, which is why the Keurig stands out so much.
VidaPak is the name of the new invention introduced by a team of inventors based in Tampa, Florida. Essentially, it is a dispenser that makes both hot and cold drinks.
As we've said, while computers and consumer electronics devices have been merging together to make complex, multi-purpose items, home appliances, especially those in the kitchen, continue to perform fairly specialized functions.
Dish washing machines wash dishes, stoves heat things up, microwave ovens heat and cook things, coffee machines make coffee, etc.
Basically, VidaPak is a lot more versatile than most of its kitchen peers, even though it only has two different functions instead of several.
Anyway, the VidaPak can mix drinks from various ingredients, thanks to a new, patent-pending technology.
All in all, the device looks like a Keurig coffee machine and even has the standard buttons, but there is an extra pair: one for hot and the other for cold.
Basically, a different logic circuit is activated based on which button you press, after which you choose the size of your drink.
Hot drinks come in 4, 6 or 8 ounces (113, 170 or 227 grams, respectively) and cold ones in 8, 10 or 12 ounces (227, 283 or 340 grams).
“The machine itself has been a challenge because traditional compressors to cool beverages are historically very large, very heavy, and very loud. So we came up with an incredibly powerful micro-compressor that is quiet and very efficient. We should be able to keep the machine footprint almost the same size of a traditional single-serve coffee machine,” VidaPak co-creator Bob Gruder tells Gizmag.
So far, the team has finished the steel injection molds, but they still need to finish the housing design around the refrigeration unit, as well as the proper flow of the fluids. A Kickstarter fundraising campaign promises to get one delivered to you for a pledge of $125 / €125, $50 / €50 more if you're outside the US.