Technology bling from 2003 is helping celebrity starlet Lindsay Lohan prove that she wants to kick the drinking habit. The "Secure Continuous Remote Alcohol Monitoring" (SCRAM), an ankle bracelet, continuously monitors the wearer's body to analyze blood-alcohol levels.
The device, an 8 oz. "1980s pager," measures a person's blood-alcohol level by determining the amount of alcohol in their sweat. If the measured blood-alcohol level is above 0.02%, the device records the level on a Flash memory card and sends the data -- at least once a day through a proprietary phone line-based modem -- to the company's web site for analysis of your drinking habits.
Of course, nothing is perfect. (.pdf)
Some products, including perfume and hand sanitizers, contain alcohol and may cause false-positives. Some foods (e.g., chocolate donuts -- Mmmm -- and some breads) similarly induce the body to produce small amounts of alcohol, and some medical conditions even raise alcohol levels naturally and could trigger inaccurate readings.
False-positives can be detected, the PDF above claims, by studying the alcohol curve that is produced over time. "Supervising agencies," such as courts monitoring drinking patterns of those on probation, have access to the data to ensure that people stay sober. While this sounds quite big brotherish, it's really ... well, big brotherish; I can't lie to you.
Perhaps politicians should be required to wear these? President Bush claims to have quit drinking, but has he really?
A Different Kind of Bling: Bracelet Tracks Alcohol Consumption [ABC News]
*Image: *AP, via asap
