Concept Sunday: b,air wearable tracks air quality

Air quality is becoming a health concern in many areas of the world. For example, Beijing issued its first ever red alert for air pollution last month. With smog at levels 10 times higher than the World Health Organization recommends, many cars were kept off the roads and schools and construction sites were closed. Beijing is by no means the only city that suffers from smog. Other famed cities wrestling with the issue include Delhi, Los Angeles, London and Mexico City. Health effects include everything from inflamed breathing passages, shortness of breath, coughing, eye and nose irritation and increased susceptibility to a range of respiratory illnesses. The b,air concept is designed to help people track air quality and provide better user awareness and even professional health care.

Conceived by Ji Sang (Bob) Park, b’air consists of a wearable device and companion smartphone app. It is aimed at people who suffer from respiratory diseases such as asthma or COPD. It not only provides information about air quality but also allows them to work with health care providers, track symptoms and remind them to take their medicines on time.

The b,air wearable provides with glanceable information about air quality and humidity levels with the necessary sensors presumably built into the device itself. It can also warn the user when thresholds are exceeded, advising them to take appropriate action (such as putting on a mask). The data can also be shared with other users via crowdsourcing.

The b,air can also double as a smartwatch, offering many of the usual features. Among them are fitness tracking, alarms, calendar management and the usual messages and notifications.

The companion smartphone app provides more detailed information about current conditions. For example, it can provide details such as particulate matter, carbon monoxide, sulfur oxides and more. The app also makes it easy to track symptoms and easily send them to your health care worker.

Let us know below if you think that measuring air quality would be a useful feature on your next wearable device.

Source : Behance