10 Drinks and 10 Days, With a Connected Breathalyzer

In a movie theater, the feature film was just about to start and my 15 minutes was up. I pulled out my iPhone and plugged a small black device into the headphone jack, tilting my phone's bright screen to the ground so I wouldn't distract the other moviegoers. Slowly I blew into the device for a few seconds until my phone vibrated. Then I checked the result — a blood alcohol concentration of 0.052.

I was using Alcohoot, a breathalyzer that connects to your smartphone. The device was released last fall, and it isn't alone. Another connected breathalyzer, Floome, is scheduled to go on sale this year and was featured in Proto Labs' Cool Idea Awards. These are consumer devices, but it's not clear if the purpose is entertainment or safety Read more...