Feds spend $402,721 on smoking detecting underwear

Oh brother, I mean big brother is here, or soon to be here. Just ask, why would the government need to develop such a thing? Just let your mind roll on that point. Anyone one want to bet that one of the Obamacare mandates will be for smokers to be hitched up to one of these gadgets?

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has awarded  more than $400,000 to a research project involving underwear that can  detect when a person smokes cigarettes.

“The modern methods of monitoring smoking, primarily you rely on  self-report,” said Dr. Edward Sazonov, an associate professor at the  University  of Alabama who is leading the project. “There are few  devices which actually allow a more computerized health report,” he told  CNSNews.com. We can’t have that can we??

The Personal Automatic Cigarette Tracker, being developed with taxpayer money, aims to put a breathing sensor in conventional underwear and a “hand gesture” sensor in a bracelet to detect and record when a person smokes. (Photo from University of Alabama website)

The University of Alabama has received two grants totaling $402,721  for the project, which so far has produced a “very early prototype” of  the monitoring system, which — in its current state — fits like a  vest.

The Personal Automatic Cigarette Tracker (PACT for short) is intended to accurately measure when and how often  people smoke as well as how deeply they inhale. The real-time  information would be used to design strategies for smoking cessation.

“We are trying to eliminate the need for self-report from people  about how much they smoke, when they smoke, how many puffs they take  from the cigarette,” he said.

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