Good News from Finland introduces ColloidTek as a Tampere-based startup that identifies the fingerprints of liquids, to ensure qualitative consistency and thus save customers time, money and energy. The article begins with one of the possible near-future applications of Collo.
A woman leans away from the counter inside a crowded nightclub to talk to her friend. As she turns back moments later, she notices that her drink is ready and waiting for her on the counter. She habitually rummages in her satchel for her smartphone and places it next to her drink.
She is making sure the drink has not been spiked with any of the incapacitating agents unceremoniously called date-rape drugs.
The glass is fitted with a plate no larger than a postage stamp that, powered by an inductive link, generates an electromagnetic field that permeates the contents of the glass, producing detailed data on the composition of the drink. The data are analysed in the cloud and the results sent to the end user.
The woman checks her smartphone. She is good to go, it says. She slides her smartphone back into her satchel and obliges, taking a sip of her drink.
This is one exhibit of the multitude of potential near-future applications of a liquid measurement solution developed and commercialized by ColloidTek, a startup founded last year by a group of scientists from the Tampere University of Technology and executives from companies such as Metso, Siemens and Valmet.
