A scanner to detect drunkards in a crowd

A team of Greek researchers from the University of Patras has created software that makes it possible to remotely detect whether a person in a crowd has consumed too much alcohol and can therefore become violent and cause problems in public places such as airports, sports stadiums or Train Stations. The invention uses thermal imaging technology to measure the facial temperature of different areas of the face , since it is known that a drunk person’s nose is usually warm, while his forehead remains cold .

At the same time, another algorithm assesses the skin color of the face of the subject suspected of being drunk, taking into account that when a person has consumed too much alcohol, the blood vessels on the skin surface dilate and red dots are seen on the face. By comparing the color detected at the moment with the sober and drunken faces from an extensive database, the program can establish precisely who has had a few too many drinks.

The new invention has been released in the International Journal Electronic Security and Digital Forensics .