A team of scientists at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine recently conducted a study in which they found that smartphones are capable of detecting when the person carrying them is alcohol-impaired. This is thanks to the devices’ internal accelerometer and gyroscope, which, when strapped to study participants’ lower backs, could tell if they were swaying more than normal as they attempted to walk in a straight line. This led the devices to determine that the carrier’s breath alcohol was over .08 percent (the legal limit in the U.S.) with a 90 percent accuracy rate.
“In five years, I would like to imagine a world in which if people go out with friends and drink at risky levels, they get an alert at the first sign of impairment and are sent strategies to help them stop drinking and protect them from high-risk events like driving, interpersonal violence and unprotected sexual encounters,” said study lead Dr. Brian Suffoletto.
