MIT Student Invents Ice Cubes That Tell You When You've Had Enough Booze -- And Will Text Friends for Help

MIT student Dhairya Dand knows first hand the consequences of drinking too much too fast and has invented edible LED ice cubes that could help others prevent learning the hard way as well.

As Dand explains in the description of his recently released video showcasing the technology, the electronics inside the ice cubes is able to track how fast and how much someone is drinking. The lights change from green to orange as a warning that the person might be hedging on drinking at an unsafe rate and change to red when they keep drinking beyond the safe limit.

(Image: Vimeo screenshot)

(Image: Vimeo screenshot)

The student who works on projects pertaining to superhuman interactions at the university is open about what happened to him and why he created "alcohol-aware glowing ice cubes." He explains that just this past November he was drinking at a party and having a good time. He remembers only having three drinks but woke up seven hours later to find himself in the hospital. He had blacked out.

Just three weeks after that experience -- MIT students work fast -- he had created the glowing ice cubes, which as an added bonus beat in time with the ambient music. He also programmed them to text friends if the drinker kept going beyond the red light warning and potentially needed help.

(Image: Vimeo screenshot)

Watch Dand's video about the ice cubes:

"In a sudden flash I had an idea of making some device that would be cool to have in a party as well as keep your alcohol intake in check," Dand told the Huffington Post. "As I went back to think about what would be the most fun way to engage the user, I thought of ice cubes."

Dand also said that the cubes are able to sense the alcohol's strength, which is important for predicting the appropriate flashing light color.

"If you don't hurry, it would take say five drinks to hit the red color. If you are having a very mild drink, it might hit red on the sixth or seventh," Dand said to the Huffington Post.

Dand did not initially intend to market his idea for the ice cubes, but, according to the Huffington Post, is considering a crowd-funding project on Kickstarter based on the positive reaction he has gotten so far.

(H/T: Daily Mail)