A sobering technological idea

Forget walking in a straight line – cameras could one day pick drunks out in a crowd by monitoring the body temperature of parts of their face.

Greek scientists have published a paper detailing how the camera can spot physical differences, such as the dilation of blood vessels in a drunk’s cheek.

The concept has been used in airports to spot people with infections, such as SARS, but it could be used at events – such as sporting events and concerts – as an aid to police.

Georgia Koukiou and Vassilis Anastassopoulos, from the University of Patras, say the system could be used to stop police or officials making mistakes based on ill-founded assumptions based on someone’s appearance or behaviour.

Alternatively, publicans or shops could use the technology to help them assess whether to serve customers.

Given the potential scope of this technology, it might be worth looking into it in more detail.