Uber sets up a curb-side breathalyzer, drives you home if you’re over the limit.

Initially launched for St. Patrick’s Day in 2014 – where drinking and driving spikes – we worked with Uber Toronto to develop an automated kiosk where passersby can blow into it and get a free, safe ride home if they are deemed unfit to drive.

The kiosk technology was built using an MQ-3 Gas Alcohol sensor read by an Arduino Uno communicating via Bluetooth to an Android Tablet that ran a custom version of the Uber app connecting to the real-time driver API with the ability to summon rides.

The entire kiosk was powered off of 5 volts delivering hours of use to both the sensor and the screen, making the installation extremely portable and easy to keep running for long periods of time.

We worked with our friends at StackLab and Paus+Grün to design and fabricate a sturdy installation that can not only be transported internationally and easily regionalized, but also be weather-resistant and accommodate fast hardware swapping in the event of a failed sensor or blown microprocessor.

The response to the activation was so wildly positive that it ran for several weeks in Toronto and Montreal before being re-skinned for a global tour visiting countries like Brazil, the Philippines and Hong Kong.

To this day, Uber Safe remains the most talked-about and shared activation in social media along with being the most recognized program in advertising awards shows.