Tattoo Monitors Alcohol Intake

July 29, 2016 – Tattoos and technology have come together to rat you out via your sweaty arm and send results to your Smartphone.

An electronic board, which clings to the skin, can measure the amount of alcohol imbibed by measuring sweat. A “temporary tattoo” is applied to the skin and the electronic board attaches to the tattoo by a magnet. Data collected are fed via Bluetooth to your Smartphone.

The inventor, Patrick Mercier, a professor of electrical and computer engineering at the University of California, San Diego said that the device, which does not appear to have a name, is designed for one-time use.

Another device that does have a name, the BACtrack Skyn is a wearable alcohol monitor that measures the amount of alcohol in the blood and is described as a low cost, wearable, non-invasive alcohol-monitoring device worn on the wrist. It, too, sends results via Bluetooth to a Smartphone. It can also alert another party, such as family or friend, if the blood alcohol content of the wearer is getting too high.

This device appears to originate in the U.K. and is not yet available but they have a pre-order mailing list. The BACtrack Skyn is reusable.