Alcohol Monitoring Bracelets

audioguy58

SCRAM
https://www.scramsystems.com/monitoring/scram-continuous-alcohol-monitoring/

Actress Lindsey Lohan was twice sentenced by a judge to wear the SCRAM ankle bracelet, based on her DUI convictions and missed court dates.

At the present time, the SCRAM bracelet seems to be available only to law enforcement; it’s not sold as a consumer product. Of course, there was a time not so many years ago when conventional (GPS or non-GPS) electronic ankle bracelets were not available to the general public either, but now they are.

One could easily imagine that in another year or two, some entrepreneur will come out with an alcohol-monitoring bracelet that parents can lock on their teens.

The fact that it might also be able to detect “illicit” sexual arousal is a worthwhile side benefit.

In this fictional story, they refer to the idea of students at a boarding school being monitored by Fitbit-type electronic bracelets 24/7, an idea I had never actually thought if:

https://theguardsmanblog.wordpress.com/2018/09/13/adalrichs-new-belt/

<< … and digital monitoring of the students by Smartwatch in their free time. The device not only reported the location, but also whether the students were learning, doing sports and sleeping well. >>

OURA
https://ouraring.com/

I find it utterly remarkable that they were able to make the OURA ring look like fine jewelry.

I also thought it would be cool if the OURA ring had a “tattler” feature, which could be activated in its associated smartphone app, which would notify your significant other if you take your ring off your finger. Sort of like a modern, high-tech version of the puzzle ring (and yes, they do still make puzzle rings.) How cool would that be?

To be clear, the OURA has no alcohol monitoring capability, at least none that I’m aware of.

Fitbit
https://www.fitbit.com/

The Fitbit products have no alcohol-monitoring capability that I’m aware of.

Angelina

audioguy58

you should never drive drunk in general, i think that normal common sense should be sufficient for that, all those who do it anyway are not reasonably informed about the consequences. and teenagers should not be forbidden to drink alcohol in general but should be taught how to deal with it sensibly at home and under the control of their parents.

but for parents who love chastity belts and total control, this is certainly something to consider 😉

6373e6b2

audioguy58 My understanding is that SCRAM bracelet is invasive (how else would that work?) so quite obviously it is only available for LEAs (It is medical device that does not exactly have a medical use).

Also the issue with both this and any other kind of something-tracking on body locked devices is power usage. Reading SpO2 by reflecting green and NIR LED off a skin into some kind of photodiode is trivial and processing the resulting data into something meaningful is SMoP. ECG can be done, but there are obvious limitations of the electrode placement. Always active GPS? You just completely blow your power budget. Microfluidics magic? You'd blown both your power and consumables budget.

Laura

Angelina but for parents who love chastity belts and total control, this is certainly something to consider

kat_anders

Angelina you should never drive drunk in general, i think that normal common sense should be sufficient for that, all those who do it anyway are not reasonably informed about the consequences

unfortunately thats not true - people who drink and drive are very well aware of the consequences, they just dont think they need to be bothered as nothing will ever happen to them. In other words, they are simply selfish idiots.

Angelina

Laura

yes, but that also goes into the offtopic, here you can also control the consumption of alcohol. 😛

6373e6b2

6373e6b2 the reason why both of these things are possible as court ordered limitation/punishment is that in these cases nobody cares that much about how bulky the device is and there are frequent opportunities to recharge the battery and frequent checks that also allow the authorities to replace the reactants.

curious

kat_anders they just dont think they need to be bothered as nothing will ever happen to them

Or they think they have the amount they drink under control, staying under the legal limit (most countries do not have a 0.00% limit).
For that reason I am very much in favour of 0.01% rules (not 0.00% because even most fruit juices contain a very tiny amount of ethanol and you don't want people to be in trouble legally for drinking fruit juice.
But 0.01% is low enough, that you cannot even drink half a glass of beer. So no way to try to intentionally drink alcohol yet stay under the limit.

Angelina

kat_anders unfortunately thats not true - people who drink and drive are very well aware of the consequences, they just dont think they need to be bothered as nothing will ever happen to them. In other words, they are simply selfish idiots.

i am usually against government intervention, but something has to be done here, the risk is simply too high. there are cars that don't start if someone is not wearing a seatbelt, this technology could be combined with a breathalyser, i.e. everyone has to blow before the car starts, of course difficult to control when there are several people in the car, but a possibility.

hanna_anders

curious it could be that, yes, but I think it’s more likely the kind of people who think rules don’t apply to them.

curious

hanna_anders There are definitely both kinds around. How common one or the other is, I cannot say.

kat_anders

curious just watch the idiots falling out of bars and getting into cars, so drunk they can barely walk but then they drive home...

youdontknowme

Angelina Those things exist, and some jurisdictions require repeat DUI offenders to put it in their car once they get their license back.

Angelina

youdontknowme

then simply install it in all cars and the problem is solved, then the police don't have to constantly stop people who might just be tired

bdsamm

The state of

arizona USA requires that a peron convicted of DUI have an ignition breathalyzer installed in order to get their license back (after the 1 yearar suspension), The cases I know about the breathalyser was required for a year,.

Philip

Angelina They tried to install them on cars back in the late 90's in the UK. Great idea but it made the cars more expensive so no one bought them.

youdontknowme

Angelina We would still pay for it via taxes, and I doubt that it would pay for itself with a reduction in police stops.

Angelina then the police don't have to constantly stop people who might just be tired

If your driving shows signs of impairment, you should get stopped. Whether it is alcohol or tiredness is secondary, you should at least be told to watch your driving because your senses might not be at peak performance, and if it is worse you should be expected to end your travel right there until you get better.

Angelina

Philip Great idea but it made the cars more expensive so no one bought them.

then it has to be funded by the state, that would be a sensible issue 😉

Angelina

youdontknowme We would still pay for it via taxes, and I doubt that it would pay for itself with a reduction in police stops.

well, you could also invest some money from what you invest elsewhere in the system instead, then it wouldn't cost us any more, it would just be distributed differently

youdontknowme Whether it is alcohol or tiredness is secondary,

That's right, the example wasn't well chosen. i just think tiredness can't always be avoided and i have enough friends who were stopped even though the police had no accusation at all

curious

Angelina
Do you know what hours for example doctors on duty work? The system that is trying to save money on the back of junior doctors is kind of forcing them to work these excessive hours, so no, it cannot easily avoided.

It is really all about money. A breathalizer in every car is pretty useless as long as you do not prevent another person to "unlock" the car. Imagine a father having a few beer during a bbq in the garden with friends. Come early evening, the son has to go for football practice and so the father would order him to unlock the car for him, so he can drive the son to his training.
You cannot solve a problem that is founded in the society (general availability and acceptance of alcohol) with technical means, I am afraid.