Two students have found a new way to put the brakes on drunken revelers: a microchip embedded in a tattoo that glows when they are no longer able to drive.
The tattoo at the entrance of bars and nightclubs could soon prove to be doubly useful. Two American communication students have developed a microchip that analyzes the alcohol content in sweat. To do this, they derived a system already used to measure blood sugar in diabetics.
SafeStamp has received support from the Heineken beer brand. It must be said that the project is interesting: the microchip costs a dollar and can be integrated into the stamps usually applied at the entrance of nightclubs.
Throughout the evening, the device sends out small electromagnetic pulses which attract the ions contained in the sweat. The chip then analyzes the alcohol level. If it is higher than the legal limit (0.5 grams per liter of blood), an LED lights up in blue, signaling to the wearer of the tattoo and his entourage that the person is no longer able to drive .
Enthusiasm for such projects is allowed: according to Road Safety, alcohol is responsible for one in three fatal accidents. In a quarter of young people (18-25 years), excessive blood alcohol level is responsible. Moreover, since the end of 2011, discotheques and night bars have been required to keep chemical or electronic breathalyzers available to revelers.
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