This Weather-Reflecting Tea Cup Is Perfect for Brooding

There’s a singular, understated joy one discovers while sitting down in quiet living rooms and staring outside and sipping cups of tea – a level of contemplation which, though probably unfamiliar to the Starbucks to-go Frappuccino set, is nevertheless perfectly suited to more introspective activities such as, say, watching your tea cup predict the weather. Well, predict the weather that’s already happening, anyway.

Created by a freelancer based in – (where else?) – London, UK, this “Storm in a Teacup” concept device was designed to reflect three current weather conditions using lights, fans and steaming, sputtering . . . things. A fan on the accompanying teaspoon spins at varying intensities to reflect wind speed, an array of lights inside the cup change in brightness to mimic sunlight and when it rains, the teacup can produce clouds, rain and even lightning if it wants to. In other words, this teacup is one bad b*tch.

Of course, the existing copy isn’t super-clear as to how the cup determines exactly what the “local weather conditions” are and since it is just a concept design, it doesn’t look like it’ll be available commercially anytime soon. Many commenters over at Design Taxi, moreover, have cried “Vids or it didn’t happen!” but a quick web search reveals no such video currently exists.

Still, if you watch the GIF below and imagine really, really hard, you can kind of guess what this thing would look like in action. It’s practically the same thing.

H/T + PicThx Design Taxi