Thousands of tech-savvy and tech-curious people gathered in Las Vegas this month to check out the multitude of gadgets on display at CES 2017. Like every year prior, CES didn’t disappoint. We saw gadgets for your home, gadgets for kids, and even cars that drive themselves.
Out of all of the inventions we witnessed at CES, those centered around the environment seemed to stick out for a lot of onlookers. Of those gadgets, Flow by Plume Labs gave a new take on personal health and exposure, and they’re taking on air pollution too. In a world where pollutants are becoming a large issue in some areas, Flow aims at helping people take extra steps to stay safe.
Go with the Flow
How Flow Tracking Air Pollution
Flow works by monitoring the air around itself as you walk, ride your bike, or even take public transportation. By simply pressing the capacitive touch button on Flow, you are alerted of the area around you via the 12 LED lights surrounding the button.
As you move around, Flow also records the data it collects for future reference. The 360-degree air intake measures particulate matter, nitrogen oxides, ozone, volatile organic compounds, temperature and humidity.
By connecting to your smartphone via bluetooth, Flow sends information to it’s accompanying app, and you can look at any historical data that Flow has recorded at anytime. The mobile app will also give you information on surrounding areas that other Flows have collected data on, much like an air quality map to assist you in planning routes to work, school, etc.
Will Flow Make a Difference?
The crowd at CES had a few questions regarding Flow. Among them, many people wondered why we are just now seeing an air quality tracker, or what kind of difference one person could make by using Flow.
Developing Flow took Plume Labs over two years. Air quality has been an issue for decades, and we are making great strides with lowering emissions, recycling efforts, and more. Flow may be just the first of its kind, opening the doors for further development and innovation.
If one person uses a device like Flow, it will only gather data from areas they travel to, but if many people use it, Flow will be able to gather more information to map out air quality within a larger area.
Flow is still in the developmental stage, but its prototypes at CES 2017 seemed to make an impact. There’s not yet been a price or launch date announced, but the company is expected to begin taking preorders this Spring.
