Wake up and smell the... patch?
For all of us who have wished we could be hooked up to an IV of coffee, the moment may have arrived!
No, your doctor isn’t willing to install a PIC line for you to hook up to an urn at your local Starbucks. Instead, some entrepreneurs are crowd-funding to produce a bracelet that administers a steady stream of transdermal caffeine.
The Joule, which will retail for about $65, is a flexible band that will hold a patch allowing caffeine to seep in through your skin over the course of four hours. It’s the same kind of technology you would see in a nicotine patch.
The creators of Joule say this is better than drinking your caffeine all in one go. Instead, the path would release the same amount of caffeine as a cup of coffee over a longer period of time. Allegedly, the slow release won't make you feel jittery or lead to a crash when the effect wears off.
And the Joule certainly won’t spill all over the car if you have to stop suddenly, like what happens when you drink coffee on the way to work.
For those who like coffee or energy drinks mainly for the charge of caffeine, this is a great idea. If what you like is a warm mug in your hands, the flavor of roasted beans, or the social satisfaction of chatting with friends in a coffee shop — well, transdermal caffeine won’t replace that.
