As a college student, it's a safe bet that you and your friends will have nights of drunken stupidity, subsequently followed by outlandish behavior recommended by that one "guy" who never fails to black out, with the end result being a massive hangover headache. However, if it’s your turn to be the unfortunate sober babysitter of intoxicated misfits, you'll want every timesaving advantage you can get. As we all know, inebriated college kids love to drunkenly stumble off into the night (it’s science), which creates massive headaches for the individuals responsible for them. Realizing this, no doubt after hearing far too many sorority girls drunkenly shout “YOLO” at every car that passes by, a University of Washington student has created a bracelet aimed at combating dangerous alcohol levels and the need for 3 a.m. search parties.
The Vive Smart Bracelet contains sensors that monitor your alcohol and hydration levels throughout the night. Then, via a smartphone connection, the bracelet can contact your social media friends if it senses irregular vitals. The bracelet also encourages you to connect with other users (as a safety precaution); the operation is quite simple: if you don’t squeeze the bracelet upon vibration, your friends are alerted. As the night ramps up, and your blood alcohol level presumably rises, the vibrational "check-ins" become increasingly frequent to ensure your safety. If you fail to squeeze the bracelet in response to a vibration, the coinciding smartphone application notifies your friend(s) of your GPS location.
In theory, the Vive bracelet appears incredibly useful; unfortunately, it presently contains some flaws. First, it doesn't have any security barriers. This means that users could mistakenly sync (connect) their bracelets with anyone they meet, even if users are extremely intoxicated and would not otherwise do so. Additionally, anyone with dissolute motives could hypothetically remove a user's bracelet and squeeze it as necessary. However, if the bracelet were somehow encrypted, the device would prove much more credible. Lastly, in an effort to save face, users might not want to notify every social media contact about their intoxicated state. Hence, it would be more beneficial to choose which friends get notified of your impending downhill disaster.
The developer could easily address these criticisms since the bracelet is currently a prototype. Nevertheless, Vive could prove to be a very popular and useful tool for future college students. Luckily, due to its popular intrigue, the University of Washington inventors have been approached by VCs who will hopefully invest the necessary capital to turn Vive into a reality.