Intelligent ‘ice cubes’ tell when you have drunk too much

For those of us who have a problem controlling our drinking, MIT student Dhairya Dand may have a cure. He has developed a new intelligent ‘ice cube' which will track how much you drink and flash red when you have had enough.

The solution was developed when Dand experienced a black out, waking up in hospital seven hours later. He realised that many people are likely to overdrink to the point which it could be dangerous. He designed these cubes to monitor a person's alcohol intake and then change colour from green to red, informing the user that they had enough to drink.

Each of the cubes is based around a coloured LED, IR receivers, an accelerometer and a battery. These are all molded into an edible, waterproof jelly to keep the circuitry protected without destroying the taste of the drink. The accelerometer monitors the amount of sips a person takes and then compares it with a timer to estimate their level of intoxication. When a certain figure is met, the LED changes colour.

If the person keeps drinking after the cube has turned red, then a text message will be sent to a friend to ask them to get involved. The LED's can also be programmed to flash in time to music inside the pub or venue.

Dand says the cubes can be adjusted to flash after a specific amount of drinks has been taken, and everyone will want a different value.

You can read more on this, over here.

Kitguru says: Its an interesting idea, but we can't see it really becoming that popular with a mainstream audience.

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