Skip to main content

Don’t hold your breath: Tiny PocketLab sensor tells you when air quality is poor

PocketLab Air Kickstarter Campaign
Whether it’s citizen journalists using tools like Twitter or large-scale medical studies courtesy of Apple’s ResearchKit technology, we live in an age where it’s possible to gather useful information from massive populations of people at once. That’s something that science-oriented wireless sensor company PocketLab is tapping into with its latest project. The goal? To give everyone the tools necessary to accumulate ultra-localized information about the effects of climate change and pollution.

With that not-exactly-modest ambition in mind, it has launched a new device called the PocketLab Air on Kickstarter. PocketLab Air is a state-of-the-art multi-sensor that connects to your mobile device or computer to give you an accurate reading on a whole range of metrics for whichever area you’re in. These include carbon dioxide and ozone levels, particulate matter, temperature, humidity, barometric pressure, altitude, dew point, heat index, and light intensity — all of which you can measure with your personal pocket-sized device, and then (if you wish) share to create a crowdsourced information map.

Related Videos

“The exciting thing about PocketLab Air is not just the sensor itself, but the ability to collaborate on global climate and air quality experiments,” Robert Douthitt, PocketLab’s director of education research and community engagement, told Digital Trends. “We are calling these PocketLab Missions. Users can activate PocketLab Mission Mode from the PocketLab app, and either accept Mission Objectives from other PocketLab Air users or create their own Mission Objectives to request data from others. Users can then upload their collected data, tagged with their geo-location, to participate in the PocketLab Mission and collaborate with others on climate and air quality experiments.”

Douthitt imagines scenarios such as high school environmental science classes using the sensors to carry out collaborative research on the air quality during pickup and drop-off times — perhaps opening up questions about whether schools should consider creating a “no-idling zone” to protect the health of their students.

Previous PocketLab sensors are used by teachers and students in thousands of classrooms all across the world,” said Douthitt. “But they are also used by professional engineers, citizen scientists, geeky parents who want to inspire their kids, and anyone with a curious mind.”

If you consider yourself among the curious, you can currently pre-order a PocketLab Air kit on Kickstarter, where prices start at $198. Shipping is set to take place in October 2018.

Editors' Recommendations

How much wind could a wind farm farm? Web tool estimates renewable potential
renewable energy

What's the wind energy potential of Anchorage, Alaska? What's the solar energy potential of your backyard?

These are just some of the questions answered by Renewables.ninja, an interactive web tool that estimates the amount of wind and solar energy that could be generated at specific locations around the world. What began as chore grew into a vocation. Now the resource is available for free online.

Read more
Chicago installs air-quality sensors in high-traffic areas
chicago air quality computers  array of things

Chicago wants to improve children's respiratory health. By the end of 2016, the city will install 100 computer-supported air-quality sensors in the start of a larger program called The Array of Things to monitor public health risks, according to CNN Money.

The Array of Things is funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF). The computers, which are referred to as nodes, will be mounted on traffic poles. The first group will be installed in the Pilsen neighborhood because an interstate highway passes directly through it. Some nodes will be placed adjacent to the highway, others near factories.

Read more
If it seems like your apps run slower when it's humid – you're right
japan sends missile warning in error summer smartphone feat

Developers so far haven't taken the weather into account when testing mobile apps, but that may change. A report from Apteligent says apps run slower in the summer, according to the IEEE Spectrum.

"On average, your apps will run about 15 percent slower in the summer!" reads the report. "The explanation is due to the science behind the propagation of radio waves. Increases in water vapor cause attenuation of the waves, especially at higher frequency bands." So humidity -- water vapor -- weakens the signal strength and causes slight delays.

Read more