Codenamed eGS, this project sees the coming together of the George Square project from City and the Urban Pollution Monitoring project. For urban use, eGS uses a sensitive CO sensor (about half the size of a paperback book). This connects to a tablet computer which also incorporates a camera and GPS (Global Positioning System) to automatically determine location.
The interface shows a map of the selected area. Overlaid is an icon for each user gathering data, with their position and CO readings. The position and CO readings are updated automatically in realtime. The map with its icons and CO readings is shared across all current users. At home or in the office, a standard computer would display the same interface, without adding information to the shared map. Users may also take and share photos, and communicate over an audio link. Thus, the system allows multiple users to gather and share data simultaneously, while others, environmental science experts for example, may observe and, if required, organise the process remotely. Some interesting questions include how the public perceive air quality in an urban environment, how providing an immediate visual representation of air quality can affect those perceptions and if this system of intelligent mobile sensors (intelligence supplied by each user) can be used for new investigations into CO dispersion effects.
|
