The step data allowed researchers to deduce with some precision when an alcohol level was exceeded.
The smartphone could intervene on the basis of a suspicious approach observed in its wearer.
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The smartphone could soon be of good advice when getting behind the wheel of a car. American scientists believe it after comparing steps taken before and after alcohol consumption. They used the data collected by smartphone sensors to detect when their wearer exceeded the legal limit for drinking and driving. The sensors allowed them to establish with an accuracy of about 90% when this was the case, while their guinea pigs only had to take about twenty steps.
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This University of Pittsburgh study looked at 22 participants, aged 21 to 43, who were given a vodka and lime juice drink every hour until they reached 0.8 g of d alcohol per liter of blood, the American limit being 0.8 ‰ against 0.5 ‰ in Switzerland. Smartphones strapped to their backs, participants performed the same routine every two hours: walking in a straight line with a series of 10 steps, turning around and back to square one.
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We have powerful sensors that we carry with us wherever we go. We must learn to use them to better serve public health
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The researchers thus imagine being able to design an application capable of alerting the wearer of the smartphone when he or she does not have the idea of giving up driving despite their state of intoxication. However, the modalities and a legal framework for its implementation still need to be defined. “Could she connect to the immobilizer in the car so you won’t be driven?” Will she alert a friend or the authorities if you shouldn’t drive? ” notes a cybersecurity expert on the BBC website.
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Although this is a preliminary study, scientists hope it serves as a basis for further research. They want to conduct other experiments, for example by analyzing how people handle their phones in their hands or put them in their pockets. “In five years, I would like to imagine a world in which if people go out with friends and drink to an unsafe degree, they are alerted at the first sign of impairment with strategies to help them quit and drink. protect against risky events such as driving, interpersonal violence and unprotected sexual encounters, ”said Dr Suffoletto. His study was published in The Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs (JSAD).
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