The Japanese drink company Kirin is to sell the IoT LED bottle cap "Illumicap" in 2016. (All Photo Courtesy of Kirin)

Kirin developed the "Illumicap," an innovative IoT plastic bottle cap with a built-in wireless communication and lighting system, in collaboration with WHITE Inc. with the goal of creating a new drinking experience for consumers.

Illumicap is a plastic bottle cap that senses and reacts to music and movement through a smartphone and illuminates the whole bottle in various colors. Kirin aims to further promote the use of the cap -- whose functions go far beyond those of an ordinary cap -- by releasing a part of its 3D data as an open source, and offer a new drinking experience jointly with consumers as well as universities. The company aims to commercialize the cap by the end of 2016.

*WHITE Inc. will hold the license for selling the cap.
*The specifications of the cap may change without notice when it is on sale.

Overview of Illumicap:
The removable cap is equipped with a Bluetooth module and an LED, emitting light downwards. It is designed to illuminate the whole plastic bottle. By controlling the Bluetooth module, the bottle can be lit in various colors and the light can be controlled in reaction to the activities of consumers.

Illumicap lets users program the lighting effect with different methods, including motion, music and color synchronizaitons.

Main point (1) : Color sync / Music sync / Motion sync
Illumicap allow consumers to enjoy real-time changes of the light through the following three methods by communicating with a smartphone application:

Color sync:
A function of changing the colors and brightness of the light

Music sync:
A function of changing the colors and flickering of the light to music saved on a smartphone

Motion sync:
A function of changing the colors of the light in response to users' movements

Main point (2): Drawing pictures and letters with light
Camera sync:
This uses the Illumicap application's function of taking photographs in a long exposure mode to draw pictures and letters on still photos, creating an artwork of light. Moreover, still pictures taken with the application can be uploaded to SNS from a smartphone.

Kirin will explore the potential of various forms of light-based communications.