Smartphones can recognise when we are drunk
One more glass? You never know for sure if you want to drive afterwards. Researchers therefore want to use smartphones to identify drunk people in future - and warn them.
Alcohol in road traffic is generally a bad idea - and if you exceed the 0.5 per mille limit, it is at least an administrative offence punishable by a fine and withdrawal of your driving licence. However, you can only guess whether you have already reached this limit or whether you are still allowed to have a drink at a party or a cosy get-together with friends. After all, very few people are likely to carry a device with them at all times that can measure the concentration of alcohol in their blood or breath.
A team led by Brian Suffoletto from Stanford University has now brought the smartphone into play. The scientists write in the "Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs" that gait analyses can be used to draw conclusions about the owner's alcohol level.
For their experiment, Suffoletto and his colleagues served 22 adults between the ages of 21 and 43 mixed drinks with vodka in the laboratory until the participants each had a breath alcohol test result of two per mille. The test subjects then continued to take an alcohol test every hour and also had to walk ten steps forwards and then backwards in as straight a line as possible. The trick: at the same time, the scientists strapped a smartphone to their backs, which measured how much the test subjects swayed forwards or sideways when walking.
From the data, Suffoletto's team was able to determine in 90 per cent of cases whether a person had an alcohol level of over 0.8 per cent - above this level, a person is considered unfit to drive in most states in the USA. The researchers admit that their system is not yet really suitable for everyday use. However, they are already working on refining the method so that the smartphone provides reliable data even when it is simply held in the hand or carried in a trouser pocket. Perhaps one day, mobile devices could send their owners a warning if they have had too much to drink to be able to drive. Until that happens, the safest method is to stay away from alcohol altogether if you still want to drive afterwards.
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