Ankle-Worn Wearable Tracks Your Intoxication Level — and Predicts the Consequences to Come
Capable of tracking its wearer's intoxication over time, this wearable sensor could prove of use in helping prevent negative consequences.
Researchers at Penn State University have come up with a wearable capable of determining a person's blood alcohol content — and making predictions about the consequences of their drinking.
"Understanding how much alcohol you have consumed is nuanced," explains Michael Russell, assistant professor of biobehavioral health at Penn State, explains. "For example, if Person A drinks a 16-ounce pint of craft beer with a 10 per cent alcohol content, Person B drinks a 12-ounce can of light beer with a 4 per cent alcohol content, and Person C drinks a large mixed drink made with several types of liquor, how many drinks have they all had? What if Person A weighs 110 pounds, Person B 220 pounds, and Person C 185 pounds? Does the answer change?"
“By using wearable technology to predict alcohol-related consequences — which range from automobile accidents to hangovers to missing work to sexual assault and beyond — we can begin to prevent alcohol-related consequences. Our research shows that wearable sensors can be used to help people understand when their drinking is becoming risky."
The wearable in question is a far cry from the traditional breathalyzer, into which the subject must blow to get a one-time reading: Worn on the ankle, the wearable tracks the amount of alcohol found in the wearer's sweat — known to represent one per cent of the amount which was coursing through their bloodstream, with a slight lag.
With continuous readings in hand the team can track peak intoxication levels, the rate at which the alcohol levels increased, and how long the alcohol stuck around in their system — providing a personalized view of exactly how a given number of drinks affects the wearer.
The team found that higher peaks and faster rates of both rising and falling levels of intoxication proved "significantly predictive" of negative consequences — suggesting that data gathered from such a system "may facilitate the prediction of alcohol-related consequences in natural settings, aiding risk stratification and prevention efforts."
"Alcohol misuse causes problems ranging from the annoyance of a mild hangover to the tragedy of premature death," says Russell. "This research is one step on a journey toward using technology to limit the harm that alcohol can cause."
The team's work has been published under closed-access terms in the journal Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research.