I’m sure some of you may have seen or heard about this bracelet that won “Best Product Concept” at the Microsoft Research Faculty Summit- Design Expo 2014. Vive is a prototype designed by students at the University of Washington that can detect how drunk you are and notify friends when you’ve had too much to drink.
Students began their research by speaking to SARVA, the Sexual Assault and Relationship Violence Activists, at the University of Washington who pointed out that alcohol consumption, especially binge drinking, can heavily contribute to sexual assaults. Since they found that 4 out of 5 college students drink, this is an issue we as college students should be aware of. This new bracelet could be an easy avenue for reducing the number of sexual assaults without sacrificing the active party lifestyle we as college students are so accustomed to.
So how does it work? Ideally the bracelets would be exchanged with a ticket or given upon entry to a nightclub—environments where consumption of alcohol requires a wristband already. These bracelets monitor your level of drunkenness through alcohol and dehydration sensors. Periodically throughout the night, they will vibrate, alerting you to check in on your state. By simply giving the bracelet a light squeeze, you let Vive and everyone in your party group know that you are still in control.
If at some point in the night, one of the people in your party group fails to dismiss the check-in, Vive will notify the party group. This allows for intervention before a friend is removed from their social network, which is crucial. Once a person is removed from their friends while highly intoxicated, they are at a much higher risk for sexual assault.
While Vive clearly has a strong platform for decreasing sexual assault, it is also a very easy way to make connections. By tapping your bracelets together, you can easily keep track of all the connections you make that night. The next day, you can go through the list of connections on the Vive app and approve or deny anyone who you may or may not want to keep in contact with. Vive only gives your information once both parties have approved the connection, so there is no need to worry about drunkenly giving away your number to some rando again!
This new bracelet could really be a game changer in the fight against sexual assault. The designers decided to take on an issue that desperately needs to be given more attention in the college world, but unfortunately this cool bracelet only fights half the battle. Colleges need to be doing more about educating students on rape and sexual assault prevention, especially in environments where alcohol is being consumed and decision-making can be tricky.
Regardless, Vive is a step in the right direction and has the potential to be our new form of connection and security in the party scene.
For more information check out this video!