It’s become an unfortunate reality that the things most detrimental to our health are often invisible to us. We can’t taste the sodium benzoate in our food, or feel the dioxane on our skin. We also can’t smell the pollution levels in the air or know when we should move inside (or outside).
A new crowdfunding campaign hopes to change that by giving us a sixth sense for air quality.
BREATHE|Smart is a portable device that reads current air quality levels on the go. The display gives a live feed of the pollutants and particulates in the air and warns you if those levels become unsafe.
It works by drawing air into a laser-based particle sensor that can detect and count air particulates. This allows it to monitor down to even the deadliest size of air pollutants… PM2.5
Particulate matter less than 2.5 microns (30 times smaller than the width of a human hair) is small enough to penetrate deep into our respiratory system. That can lead to a host of chronic diseases like lung cancer and is responsible for millions of death each year.
The touch display shows the current air pollution levels and changes colors when levels cross into unsafe territory. Green is good, red is bad.
Breathe easy, travel light
Unlike a lot of other portable tech that requires a smartphone to work, BREATHE|Smart is completely self-sustained. No subscription, phone or app is required and it’s ready to use out of the box.
Its compact form is designed to go anywhere and includes a mount that lets it attach to bikes or strollers.
Breathe Tech founder and Londoner Christopher Turner came up with the concept after reading some disturbing numbers about pollution levels in his own city, and their effects on his daughter.
“I realised that there is only so much government can do and air quality is not going to get better quickly, so the best solution was to minimise exposure to harmful air. The only way to do that was to somehow make the invisible air pollution, visible”.
For most people, avoiding poor quality air completely might not be possible. However, exposure to air pollution can be reduced by up to 50% just by adjusting the routes we take or the hours we travel.
BREATHE|Smart plans on delivering pre-orders by May 2019 if their funding goal is reached.
[button color=”pink” size=”big” alignment=”none” rel=”follow” openin=”newwindow” url=”https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/breathe-smart-air-quality-monitor/reft/19771111/cb”]Pre-order for $69 on Indiegogo[/button]
