We Need to Clear the Air
Halo Air snaps onto your phone to track air pollutants and carbon dioxide, temperature, and humidity levels wherever you go.
Building an environmental monitor by wiring up a few sensors to an Arduino or Raspberry Pi is such a common first electronics project that it is almost a rite of passage for beginners. While these sorts of projects can be very useful, they are also quite limited. Between a relatively large development board, several sensor modules, a battery, and all the requisite wiring, these monitors are not exactly portable. They will do a fine job in your home, but the insights they offer will extend no further.
It is for this reason that the Halo Air has been launched on Kickstarter. The Halo Air is a smallish brick that attaches to the back of a phone via a set of magnets. All of the sensors, the processor, and the battery are neatly contained within, making it easy to take with you wherever you may roam. And being attached to a phone also has another advantage — a readily available user interface. The Halo Air transmits data to a phone app via Bluetooth so that you can see both real-time data and historical trends in slick charts and graphs.
The device is capable of sensing particulate matter, such as smog, soot, and mold, that can cause anything from mild allergies to serious respiratory or cardiovascular conditions in susceptible individuals. It also detects carbon dioxide, temperature, and humidity levels to give a more full picture of the air quality wherever you happen to be. Notifications can be sent when certain criteria are met, which may lead the user to take an action, like opening a window, to improve local air quality.
Even for those without special health considerations, keeping tabs on factors like carbon dioxide may still be of interest. If the levels are too high, it may impact one’s ability to focus and think clearly, for instance. But the jump from a mess of wires and modules to a commercial product won’t come without taking a toll on your wallet. The early bird price for the device is $175 for now, but after the campaign, the expected retail price will shoot up to $300. Check out the Kickstarter campaign for more details.