Drunk User Interfaces : Using Smartphone - Based Human Performance Tests to Detect

The standard quantitative method for assessing inebriation is to use a breathalyzer. However, breathalyzers are primarily owned by law enforcement and used only after a drunk individual is caught behind the wheel. Unlike breathalyzers, smartphones are one of the most ubiquitous technologies in today’s society. If smartphones could be used to reliably detect inebriation, they could be employed in ways to prevent drunk driving (e.g., by linking the smartphone to the car) or to incent good behavior (e.g., by lowering insurance for those who pass an app-based test before driving after 10 pm). We are running an ongoing study to examine whether or not challenging human performance tasks (e.g., typing, swiping, reacting) can be implemented on the smartphone to detect inebriation and prevent drunk individuals from getting behind the wheel. These tasks not only assess drunkenness from a performance perspective, but also from the perspective of the smartphone sensors.