“One Country, Two Lungs” Project: Tracking Exactly How Much Air Pollution You’re Exposed To
The air pollution data we see today are typically collected by traditional fixed monitoring stations, located in just several places around the city; thus, we can only learn about the general air quality over a particular region. In a new project called “One Country, Two Lungs” from MIT’s Senseable City Lab, researchers gathered fine-grained data in Hong Kong and Shenzhen by using small sensors attached to their wrists and belts (EcoSense SensPods tracked carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide, temperature, humidity, and noise, while the Dylos DC1100 monitored a kind of coarse inhalable particles, PM 10). They also had a GPS and camera attached to track spatial information.
The link below is a video that shows how air pollution data can be presented from a first-person perspective:
This is truly an excellent idea because it not only provides people with individual-scale information about how much air pollution they are actually breathing in at specific place and moment and remind them to minimize their own exposure to bad air, but more importantly, improves people’s awareness of air protection. When people notice that air quality in their commute and daily life is becoming terrible and their health is being threatened, they will realize that protecting air is protecting themselves and be more willing to take measures to participate in air protection.
At last, the further problems are triggered: How can we make such sensors be more portable? Can sensors, GPS and cameras be integrated? How can these sensors be widely deployed?
Citation:
Xie, Jenny, and CityLab. “Tracking Exactly How Much Air Pollution You’re Exposed To.” CityLab. March 05, 2014. Accessed September 29, 2018. https://www.citylab.com/life/2014/03/tracking-how-much-air-pollution-youre-exposed-step-step/8525/.
