The festival wristband that monitors your drinking

July 15, 2022 10:37 AM

We now track our sleeping and fitness, so why not our alcohol consumption too? Lick it to find out. A new initiative at a Finnish music festival is paving the way for more responsible and enjoyable drinking. The new lickable technology accurately detects from saliva samples various levels of BAC, ranging from zero to 0.02% and 0.05%
posted by folklore724 (39 comments total)

Wow um...weird flex in the age of covid...
posted by tiny frying pan at 10:45 AM on July 15, 2022 [8 favorites]

the boozeberries taste like boozeberries!
posted by saturday_morning at 10:53 AM on July 15, 2022 [19 favorites]

You can lick your friends and you can lick your arm, but you shouldn't lick your friend's arm.
posted by emelenjr at 10:58 AM on July 15, 2022 [12 favorites]

I suppose the overlap in a Venn diagram of "people who need help monitoring their drinking at festivals" and "people who won't feel shame publicly licking a wristband" is considerable.
posted by coffeecat at 11:07 AM on July 15, 2022 [22 favorites]

If you've reached the stage where you need a lickable wristband to remind you of how many drinks you've had, it's probably time to stop drinking.
posted by ryanshepard at 11:18 AM on July 15, 2022 [4 favorites]

The point is to know when/if you're safe to drive again, i.e. you probably have stopped drinking.

This is a really good thing, maybe restrain the urge to shit on it if you don't drink, party or drink and party.
posted by snuffleupagus at 11:21 AM on July 15, 2022 [43 favorites]

Weird that the range starts at 0.0 and only goes up to 0.05. Like I'm thinking if you are licking a wrist band to find out your BAC you are much more likely to be at the 0.1 end of the scale than the 0.0 end. I wonder if that was a purposeful choice to limit abuse the way that those "Your Speed" signs only display an accurate number for a limited amount over the posted limit.

I'm guessing these are single use? A device that continually monitored BAC via breath exhalations or sweat or something would be interesting at one of these events (or more specifically the data generated).
posted by Mitheral at 11:21 AM on July 15, 2022 [4 favorites]

This one looks like it has one panel. A refillable keychain version that carries a few panels might be better, it doesn't seem like it needs to be riding around on your wrist to work.
posted by snuffleupagus at 11:25 AM on July 15, 2022 [2 favorites]

Any technology is lickable if you're brave enough.
posted by Aizkolari at 11:30 AM on July 15, 2022 [40 favorites]

Weird that the range starts at 0.0 and only goes up to 0.05. Like I'm thinking if you are licking a wrist band to find out your BAC you are much more likely to be at the 0.1 end of the scale than the 0.0 end

Idea is that it tells you if it's safe/legal to drive. If you're 0.06 they want you thinking "I maxed out the sensor!" Not that you're borderline and maybe can risk it.
posted by mark k at 11:41 AM on July 15, 2022 [9 favorites]

A refillable keychain version that carries a few panels might be better

There have been cheap keychain BAC monitors around for a while, if you want something for more regular use.

I got a little fuel cell type one for free as a weird 'gift' along with something I ordered from China, and it seemed to work okay. If anything it tended to read higher than reality, based on some comparisons I made to better ones that I had access to at the time. (Drinking... for science!)

Now there appear to be decent-ish ones (probably much more accurate than the one I had) for around $30-40.

I think if more people used BAC meters, they'd be pretty surprised how subjectively drunk some people can feel, while still being legal to drive, in many states.
posted by Kadin2048 at 11:43 AM on July 15, 2022 [5 favorites]

Add a little salt and lime flavoring to the wristband, and you've got the perfect accessory for tequila shots!

I keed, I keed ... after getting a breathalyzer for entertainment purposes, I realized that BAC 0.1 is about where you should stop drinking for the *night* -- thus 0.08 is way too high for driving IMHO. I can see how 0.05 might be a reasonable "danger" level.
posted by credulous at 11:45 AM on July 15, 2022 [2 favorites]

If you're 0.06 they want you thinking "I maxed out the sensor!" Not that you're borderline and maybe can risk it.

".036 BAC, not great not terrible"
posted by condour75 at 11:53 AM on July 15, 2022 [8 favorites]

I think I found a loophole: Wear a few festival wristbands and just lick each one a tiny bit.
posted by They sucked his brains out! at 11:58 AM on July 15, 2022

for the brief period I played rugby, and attended exactly one rugbyfest, the shoelaces came off as people left the bus and were handed their mug

you tie the mug to your wrist, you see.. that was as clear a signal as any I've seen re: expectations for beer consumption, it was pretty gross alright
posted by elkevelvet at 12:02 PM on July 15, 2022 [1 favorite]

If you've reached the stage where you need a lickable wristband to remind you of how many drinks you've had, it's probably time to stop drinking.

This is an outdated guilt tripping mindset if you ask me.

We monitor everything else in our lives but when it comes to drinking it means we must have a problem.
posted by girlmightlive at 12:04 PM on July 15, 2022 [14 favorites]

If you've reached the stage where you need a lickable wristband to remind you of how many drinks you've had, it's probably time to stop drinking.

People are incredibly bad at judging their own level of intoxication, and their ability is not improved by, you know, drinking. Just remembering how many drinks you've had doesn't tell you much about how strong they were, how long ago you had them, how quickly your body metabolizes alcohol, etc.
posted by jacquilynne at 12:19 PM on July 15, 2022 [13 favorites]

Hell, my steady state is higher than .05%. :P
posted by Splunge at 12:28 PM on July 15, 2022 [1 favorite]

Any technology is lickable if you're brave enough.
posted by Aizkolari

I'd probably avoid 480V bus bars.
posted by Splunge at 12:30 PM on July 15, 2022 [2 favorites]

Someone at my college came up with an ATM like machine with disposable straws that was a fancy wall mounted BAC meter. Their concept was to put it at bars and events and people could test before leaving and call a cab if needed. They were demonstrating it at various events around town and took it to a beer festival I was at, and people started using it like a game to see how high they could get their BAC to read.
posted by msbutah at 12:33 PM on July 15, 2022 [5 favorites]

I second that it should measure higher than .05, maybe to .20, and support multiple licks throughout the night. Honestly, it sounds like the perfect mix between gross and fun that hits when you are drinking at a festival.
posted by The_Vegetables at 12:34 PM on July 15, 2022

people started using it like a game to see how high they could get their BAC to read.

That's just people helping you Q/A your device. Also, it's not like a fitbit cuts off at 30k steps and tells you to sit down and play video games.
posted by The_Vegetables at 12:36 PM on July 15, 2022 [3 favorites]

Someone at my college came up with an ATM like machine with disposable straws...

I've used one of those! In Vegas! Many years ago. More as a lark than anything, as I wasn't planning on driving.

The machine's existence implied to me that this was just a thing, now, and I was eventually surprised never to have seen one again.
posted by gurple at 12:39 PM on July 15, 2022 [2 favorites]

This is great! I know people this could help, and I know of people whose lives tech like this could have saved. In the long term, of course, gotta keep our eyes on how the data is used…
posted by cupcakeninja at 1:02 PM on July 15, 2022 [1 favorite]

"I'm sober enough to know what I'm doing, and I'm drunk enough to really enjoy doing it"
posted by shenkerism at 1:05 PM on July 15, 2022 [2 favorites]

I told my toddler not to bite her sister yesterday, and she responded by licking the back of her hand while staring me down. These people are out there.
posted by michaelh at 1:44 PM on July 15, 2022 [15 favorites]

"Mel, Lick my wrist"
posted by clavdivs at 5:05 PM on July 15, 2022

michaelh, her own hand, or her sister’s hand?
posted by cnidaria at 5:31 PM on July 15, 2022

> The machine's existence implied to me that this was just a thing, now, and I was eventually surprised never to have seen one again.

I remember seeing one in Helsinki in the 1970s, although I don't know if the straw was disposable. (I also don't know why the hell my brain has decided to hold on to this image for all these decades.)
posted by The corpse in the library at 5:45 PM on July 15, 2022 [1 favorite]

Lick it to find out.

Thanks for the t-shirt update idea!
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 6:00 PM on July 15, 2022 [3 favorites]

"I'm sober enough to know what I'm doing, and I'm drunk enough to really enjoy doing it"

I still absolutely cannot believe that John Dunsworth doesn't drink and was completely sober for all of the Trailer Park Boys. His performance as Mr. Lahey was so spot on you could smell the cheap booze through the screen even with pirated downloads of TPBs with more artifacts in them than the Smithsonian.

Plus, in hindsight, I don't know how anyone stayed sober working with that crew. You'd have to be totally fucked to go through that sober.

Also, seconding the dangers of consumer breathalyzers. It might just be the kind of people I hang out with but every time one of those things was on the scene competitive drinking happened, and it's not like my kind of people needed any extra help or motivation for that kind of nonsense.
posted by loquacious at 6:40 PM on July 15, 2022 [1 favorite]

michaelh, her own hand, or her sister’s hand?

Her sister's arm, actually, and then almost bit her own arm, and then licked her own hand.

Yes, things should be interesting in the 2030s.
posted by michaelh at 9:31 PM on July 15, 2022 [1 favorite]

Any technology is lickable if you're brave enough.

Once, anyway.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 9:45 PM on July 15, 2022 [1 favorite]

MetaFilter: Lick it to find out.
posted by ZenMasterThis at 3:51 AM on July 16, 2022 [2 favorites]

The idea of licking ANYTHING at a music festival gives me the willies.
posted by TheCoug at 7:26 AM on July 16, 2022

AskMetaFilter: Is it safe to lick this?
posted by loquacious at 8:22 AM on July 16, 2022 [2 favorites]

My brain saw “alcohol monitoring bracelet” and immediately went somewhere more dystopic. (CW my blog, pregnancy, blockchain)
posted by bigbigdog at 1:36 PM on July 16, 2022 [2 favorites]

Wow, bigbigdog, that’s … yikes. Well-written. But wow. Sure, we can go with dystopian.
posted by leahwrenn at 11:12 PM on July 16, 2022 [2 favorites]

My sisters' father was killed by a drunk driver. Anything that helps people enjoy themselves responsibly is pretty cool in my book (even if licking a wristband does make me chortle in a Douglas Adams-universe kinda way.
posted by liminal_shadows at 12:13 PM on July 19, 2022 [1 favorite]