This article was taken from the May 2011 issue of Wired magazine. Be the first to read Wired's articles in print before they're posted online, and get your hands on loads of additional content by subscribing online.
Are you worried about your local air-quality? As with so many things these days, there's now an
app for that.
Citizen Sensor, the DIY pollution monitor, could help you to breathe easy. "Given the prevalence of mobile phones it makes sense to use them as sensors," says Joe Saavedra, a design and technology masters student at Parsons The New School for Design,in New York City.
So Saavedra has launched the Citizen Sensor project -- a DIY sensor kit and an Android app that allows people to turn their phone into an air-quality sensor. "People solder these kits together," he says. And they can be reconfigured to measure a range of pollutants, from carbon monoxide and CO2 to ozone and methane. The data is sent to your phone via Bluetooth. "The application will show your sensor's data in real time, but it also pushes it into the cloud," says Saavedra.
This means users can see the air quality in their immediate locale. "We currently have a single data level that represents all of Manhattan," says Saavedra. "With Citizen Sensor a far more accurate picture will become possible."
This article was originally published by WIRED UK
