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The “Drunkometer” to Digital Apps: How Technology Changes the Way We Drink

• Date: Friday, December 04, 2015
• Time: 12:00 am
• Location: William G. McGowan Theater, Washington, DC

The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) has issued a national challenge to design a wearable or discreet device to measure blood alcohol levels. Tonight’s discussion examines the history and current research on alcohol consumption and the promise of new technology. First used by the criminal justice system to enforce drunk driving laws, alcohol monitoring technology now has the potential to improve personal health and aid scientific research.

Moderated by Gary Wolf, writer and contributing editor at Wired magazine and co-founder of Quantified Self. Panelists will include Dr. George Koob, director of the NIAAA; Susan Cheever, author of Drinking in America: Our Secret History; and Dr. William Rorabaugh, history professor at the University of Washington and author of The Alcoholic Republic: An American Tradition.

This program is presented in conjunction with the “Spirited Republic: Alcohol in American History” exhibit in the Lawrence F. O’Brien Gallery of the National Archives Museum. “Spirited Republic” is presented in part by the National Archives Foundation through the generous support of HISTORY®, the Lawrence F. O’Brien Family, The Tasting Panel Magazine, and Wine & Spirits Wholesalers of America. Additional exhibition funding provided by the Beer Institute, the Distilled Spirits Council of the U.S., the National Alcohol Beverage Control Association, and the National Beer Wholesalers Association.