Given the high incidence of date sleep drugs in some clubs from all around the world, owning a device that identifies spiked drinks has the potential of saving lives.
It is estimated that 25% of North American women will be sexually assaulted in their lifetime, and that in 25% of these cases alcohol and date rape drugs facilitate the assault. This alarming percentage determined some companies to develop devices that can tell if a drink has been spiked, in order to make women feel more secure.
pd.id is said to be as accurate as the tools used by the DEA a few years ago, just in a smaller form factor. Some claim that anything as small as this gadget won’t ever be able to make a difference between the hundreds of possible substances found in alcoholic beverages (think bitters that include great numbers of plant extracts).
The personal drink ID can be paired with a smartphone in order to get more details on the results. However, it works very well on its own, and is able to display various colors on its LEDs depending on what it picks up in a drink. One of the things I’m concerned about, though, is the safety of the product. Its developers say that it fits quite well in a pocket or a purse, but getting it out from there and putting it in your drink might not be the best thing to do.
The makers of the pd.id personal drink ID are currently looking for funding on Indiegogo, where they’ve set a goal of $100K that they intend to beat within the next 40 days. Should the crowdfunding campaign be successful, anyone who backed the project with $100 or more will receive a colored pd.id in April 2015. At press time, there were still 79 Early Bird spots that enabled backers to secure a pd.id for themselves by pledging $75 or more. If you fancy the concept, feel free to visit the project’s page and pledge as needed to get one spiked drink detector.
From a social point of view, such devices are a step back for the human kind. Sure, they accomplish an important task, but at the same time, they could make surrounding people raise a brow at the clear signs of paranoia the user of pd.id might have. Since paranoia has always been a great income source, now there’s a new company who wants to cash in on that.
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