Its nice to see that even the smart kids at MIT party a little too much at times. Take the case of Dhairya Dand, a student who woke up in the hospital one night after having 10 or 12 too many. Dand is a smart guy, and knows that continuing to do that would be pretty stupid, so he decided to make ice cubes that will help him stay out of the Danger Zone (cue Kenny Loggins music).
Dand invented the new "smart" ice cube, and they will flash different colors and even send an alert to a designated friend when you have had too much. It works off of an accelerometer, and the basics are that it monitors the number of sips you have. In a nice touch of class, it will use LED lights to change from green to red to alert you to stop. The cubes are molded into an edible and waterproof jelly that will keep the inner workings protected and will not affect the taste of the drink.
Now, while this seems like a great idea in theory, it doesn't take into account the actual alcohol content of the drinks, so it can't determine if you're drinking a Zima like Ray or a single barrel bourbon like myself.
Either way, coming from a guy who was drinking in Connecticut one night and woke up in New Jersey I raise my glass to the idea and hope he can add to and perfect this invention.
Check out a video below which lays out the process Dand used in creating the smart ice cube. And remember, smart ice cubes or not - drink responsibly kids.
[gizmag]
