Pollution Badge – Kin Research
The Brief
Pollution levels are on the increase and with EU targets not being met we wanted to address the problem in a way that takes advantage of our everyday habits. By turning citizens into data gatherers we wanted to tackle the issue of air quality and engage them in behaviour change (a discussion) that spans urban planning, health, and politics.
The Solution
The Pollution Badge monitors local environmental conditions to check whether pollution levels are getting too high. If they are, an email is drafted, via a paired smartphone, to the relevant Member of Parliament. Tagged with metadata the statistics can also be used too usefully contribute to community generated pollution maps.
We developed a collection of prototype objects focussing on specific contexts. These prototypes can be attached to bikes to provide road specific information and cover a wide area, or strapped to a buggy to monitor low lying pollution that particularly affects infants.
