The premise is so cliche: we’re so focused on work, family, and school that we rarely have time to take care of our bodies. That statement, unfortunately, is as true as it is oversaid. Take hydration, for example. How many of us drink more than even a liter of water a day? How many of us even remembers to hydrate ourselves until our thirst forces us to pry open a bottle of water?
Trago is an advanced water bottle cap with an embedded ultrasonic sensor that measures your daily liquid consumption and transmits the data to your smartphone via Bluetooth. The cap, powered by a battery with a shelf life of over half a year, detects bottle movement and tracks refills to present you with the most accurate hydration data. In addition, it is also compatible with most water bottles on the market, including those from Camelback and Hydroflask.
Jac Saltzgiver, the CEO of Trago, spoke to us in a phone interview about the inspirations behind Trago:
“There is a better way to hydrate than simply drinking a Gatorade before or after you work out. It is based on data that is unique to you. We want to change the way that people, and athletes, think about hydration.”
Saltzgiver and the Trago team want to debunk the age-old adage that more fluid means better hydration. As the market’s most unique hydration technology, Trago is connected to multiple third-party apps, including those from Under Armour, Fitbit, and Garmin, to accumulate exercise and activity data helpful in determining a person’s optimal hydration level.
“The premise of the sports drink industry is that you should drink as much fluid as possible, but each person actually has a specific hydration level, and drinking past that can indeed result in over-hydration. Factors like body type – which will be determined by age, height, weight, and health conditions – weather, and activity level will determine the amount of water you should be drinking per day to reach your hydration goal. Six hours of hiking in 90 degree heat at Zion National Park will dehydrate you much more quickly than a lazy afternoon at the pool.”
“Furthermore,” Saltzgiver continues, “most people don’t realize that they’re hydrating harmfully by drinking unhealthy sports drinks with too much sugar. With Trago, we want to both help professional athletes become more well-hydrated and perform and recover at their best, and make hydration a conscious concern in people’s everyday life.”
Trago has partnered up with D1 Collegiate programs to allow coaches and trainers to monitor team hydration. Saltzgiver says that the company’s goals over the next few years will be to introduce healthier hydration alternatives than currently offered by the sports drink industry, and create complementary wearables in the hydration lane.
After completing a successful Kickstarter bid in June, Trago is in full production mode and expected to hit the shelves in the spring of 2016.
Thanks for making Trago a success on Kickstarter! #hydratesmarter pic.twitter.com/KlxHKwdcSy
— Trago (@trago) July 3, 2015