In this case, this USB shot glass allows two parties to drink together over the internet, notifying the other person just how much booze is left in the glass. This last part is important, since it’s apparently rude not to finish the shot in Russia.

Now businessmen can seal deals over the net instead of in person, which frees them to do a lot more drinking and a lot less traveling.

The stereotype is that Russians drink a lot of vodka. And it’s the truth. However, there is an unspoken rule in Russian Culture – a person shall not drink alone. That is why, it’s common in bars to be approached by strangers who are trying to form “Trinity”.

Sergei Mikheev, an expert of E-Generator – a Russian Peer-2-Peer creative agency, has come up with a new way of solving a common problem – you need to drink, but you don’t have anyone to drink with. Here is how it works – you plug in a special shot glass to a USB port, connect to an online vodka room, and find virtual drinking buddies. The main idea is that the shot-glass will track the amount of liquor in it and report it to other users. This is done to make sure that the person has finished the shot (it’s considered rude in Russia if one doesn’t finish a drink). Unfortunately, it’s not known yet, how the glass will determine its content.

Via Russian W-Wag