New wearable can tell how much you've had to drink

If you’re not entirely sure which drink is the one that’s one too many, the BACtrack Skyn should be able to give you a head’s up.

The wearable uses the sweat on your skin to monitor your blood alcohol levels. This can enable people to track drinking habits, whether that be for personal, medical, or legal purporses.

Head of the National Institutes of Health's (NIH) National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, Dr George Koob, explained that the wearable can help doctors accurately measure a patient's drinking history, and not just depend on the most recent tests. This can help a lot with the treatment."

It won’t replace the standard breathalyser just yet though. The BACtrack Skyn can’t offer real-time blood alcohol levels and takes about 45 minutes of wear to get an accurate reading.

BACtrack took the top prize of $200,000 with the Skyn in the NIH’s Wearable Biosensor Challenge competition.