According to a new study, your phone can actually detect if you’re under the influence – by the changes in the way you walk.
Obviously, the potential to use this technology to cut down on DUIs and other alcohol-related incidents is huge. “We have powerful sensors we carry around with us wherever we go,” says researcher Brian Suffoletto, who is also an emergency room doctor. “We need to learn how to use them to best serve public health.”
Dr. Suffoletto has made it his mission to study ways to reduce alcohol-related deaths, and the reason is personal. “I lost a close friend to a drinking and driving crash in college,” he says. “And as an emergency physician, I have taken care of scores of adults with injuries related to acute alcohol intoxication. Because of this, I have dedicated the past 10 years to testing digital interventions to prevent deaths and injury related to excessive alcohol consumption.”