Copyright
Press Association
It is hoped that phone alerts can be developed to stop people from driving while over the limit
Smartphones can detect if you have been drinking too much by controlling your walking distance, a study has found.
U.S. researchers used sensors in smartphones to detect if someone was the legal limit for drink-driving.
Phones were able to do this with about 90% accuracy when users walked just 10 steps in the study by the University of Pittsburgh.
Scientists hope the discovery could be used to develop device alarms, as people ask not to drive when drunk.
“We have powerful sensors that we carry with us everywhere we go,” said lead researcher Brian Suffoletto. “We need to learn how to use them to best serve public health.”
The study had 22 participants aged 21 to 43 years, who received a vodka and lime soup every hour until they reached 80 milligrams of alcohol per 100 ml of blood.
In the US and in England, Wales and Northern Ireland this is the alcohol limit for drivers. In Scotland, the limit is 50 milligrams of alcohol per 100 milliliters of blood.
With a smartphone strapped to their backs, participants performed a running task every two hours – a straight line for 10 steps of running, turning and running backwards.
About 90% of the time, the researchers were able to identify those over the limit by changes in gait marked by the phones.
Copyright
Press Association
It is hoped that phone alerts can be developed to stop people from driving while over the limit
One application could be to report users who may not think they are restricted that they should not drive.
“I lost a close friend after a drinking and driving accident in college,” Dr. Suffoletto said. “And as an emergency physician, I have provided scores of adults with injuries related to acute alcoholism.
“Because of this, I have devoted the past 10 years to testing digital interventions to prevent deaths and injuries related to excessive alcohol consumption.”
Although this is a small preliminary study, scientists hope it provides a basis for further research. They want to perform extra experiments that better imitate how people carry their phones, such as in their hands or pockets.
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“This is a controlled study, but in any broader public application, you would need to consider how this data is collected and used,” said Professor Daniel Dresner, an expert on cyber security at the University of Manchester.
“There is no limit to the ingenuity of the uses by which data can be posted or misused, but it is important to remember how this science can be adapted in the future. Could connect it to the auto- immobilizer, so it does not let you drive? Will it warn a friend, like the authorities, if you do not have to drive? “
Last year, nearly 360,000 admissions to English hospitals were primarily due to alcohol drinking, with about 6,000 alcohol-specific deaths.
“In five years, I would like to imagine a world where when people go out with friends and drink at risky levels, they get a warning at the first sign of restriction and are sent strategies to help them stop drinking and protect themselves from high -risk events such as driving, interpersonal violence and unprotected sexual encounters, “said Dr Suffoletto.
The findings were published in the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs.
