Wearable air quality monitor crowdsources pollution data

Breathe is a wearable sensor that helps users keep track of pollution levels wherever they are.

The new industrial centers of the world — such as China, India and Brazil — as well as other major cities, all have one common problem and that's pollution. It's detrimental to residents' health, but not widely recorded or reported. We've already seen devices such as Netatmo, which lets homeowners monitor the air quality where they live, and now Breathe is a wearable sensor that helps users keep track of pollution levels wherever they are.

The device itself takes the form of a small white clip that can be attached to any item of clothing. It measures the levels of toxic elements in the air as users travel through different environments. When connected to the companion app, users can track the air quality at the locations they've visited throughout the day, providing them with data to help them avoid pollution hotspots. If the air quality becomes a significant risk to wearers' health, Breathe sends an emergency alert to their phone.

As well as having personal benefits, the Breathe sensor sends all of its collected data to a crowdsourced database that in the future could provide real time information about pollution levels around the world.

Breathe makes it possible to track environmental metrics that are otherwise impossible to detect, despite the huge effect they have on our health. Could wearable tech be designed to monitor other invisible safety hazards?