Thermal cameras will soon pick up if you are drunk

 Scientists have devised a new technology that can spot drunk people in a crowd by monitoring the temperature of their body and face through cameras.

Scientists in Greece have devised a code to look for signs of inebriation system to be used in bars and shops to alert the staff.The new software can look at changes in body temperature to determine sobriety, the ‘Daily Mail’ reported.

Scientists have given details of how two computer formulas, in conjunction with the camera, can spot physical differences, such as the dilation of blood vessels in a drunk persons cheek, or the slight increase in heat on nose, compared to their forehead.

The concept has been used before in airports to help spot people with infections, such as SARS, but the new twist on the technology could be used at sports events or crowded areas as an aid to security teams or police.

Georgia Koukiou and Vassilis Anastassopoulos, from the University of Patras in Greece, have produced two algorithms to analyse data from cameras.

They noted how alcohol causes blood vessel dilation at the skin’s surface, so by comparing different spots on the face, they can spot individual pixel-width differences.

A second programme looks at heat variability across areas of the face, based on observations that the nose becomes relatively hot compared to a cooler forehead when a person is inebriated.

Researchers suggest the system could be used to stop the police or officials making mistakes based on ill-founded assumptions based on someone’s appearance or behaviour.

The technology, however, is likely to raise concerns over privacy, particularly if deployed en masse on the general public.