A new smartphone application is able to measure the level of intoxication from the voice with amazing accuracy.
A person needs about a hundred different muscles to produce speech, and the alcohol in the blood starts to affect their function even at low concentrations. Illustration picture. JOHN PALMEN
In Belgium, it is expected that the use of smartphones is likely to expand to a new area in the future, when a program developed by researchers at the American Stanford University to identify blood alcohol content from voice is commercialized as a smartphone application for general use.
In Belgium, drunk driving is an exceptionally significant traffic safety problem. According to the latest published statistics, in 2019, according to police data, more than 50,000 traffic accidents and 6 percent of all road traffic deaths involved to alcohol.
Associate Professor at Stanford University Brian Suffoletto according to his research team was able to determine almost flawlessly from the voice of the person how much alcohol a person has in their blood. The application developed by the group utilized acoustics analysis, reaction speed measurement technology and artificial intelligence.
A person needs about a hundred different muscles to produce speech, and the alcohol in the blood starts to affect their function even at low concentrations. Artificial intelligence combined with the sensitive sensor technology in phones is able to detect micro-level changes much earlier and more accurately than humans.
Specialized in alcohol and drug research information Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs according to the first stage tests, the application reported the blood alcohol concentration of twenty test subjects with 98 percent accuracy compared to the reference data measured with blood tests. According to the university, in the next phase the tests will be expanded to significantly larger groups of subjects to ensure the reliability of the technology.
In harnessing smartphones and artificial intelligence to measure drunk status, many future possibilities are seen. Of course, the application can be programmed to warn smartphone users against making mobile calls, but more important from a safety perspective are the possibilities of using the application to combat drunk driving, for example.
In the future, the technology can also be integrated into the safety systems of cars, in which case the automatic system that detects drunkenness from speech prevents the car from driving. Even the current sensor systems in cars can distinguish whether a person is a driver or a passenger in the car.
In addition, the technology can be used, for example, in the analysis of calls to emergency centers.
The Belgian police say they are cautiously optimistic about the new technology.
– Anything that can help reduce drunk driving is a good thing, says the press representative of the Belgian Federal Police Jana Verdegem For Iltalehti.
– If this kind of new technology can prevent even some drunk drivers from driving, it can have a big impact on accident statistics.
According to Verdegem, however, when introducing new technology, one must be careful not to imagine that it is always 100% correct.
– No matter how much the smartphone application claims that you are fit to drive, it is not sufficient as an explanation if the police stop you during traffic control.
At one point, your smartphone can tell you how drunk you are. Illustration picture. JOHN PALMEN
In Belgium, the drink driving limit is 0.5 per thousand. As in Finland, blood alcohol concentration is also measured in Belgium, always ultimately with a blood test.
In the neighboring Netherlands, the drink driving limit is also 0.5 per thousand, with the difference to Belgium that for new drivers who have been driving for less than five years, the limit is only 0.2 per thousand. In France, the general drink driving limit is 0.5 per thousand. However, for professional drivers and drivers with less than three years of driving experience, the limit is 0.2 per thousand.
In Germany, too, the limit for drunk driving is generally 0.5 per thousand. For drivers under the age of 21 or with less than two years of driving experience, as well as professional drivers, the limit is 0.0 per thousand.