Sensors and digital twins boost air quality

The visualisation platform could transform the way we manage air quality challenges

Spotted: Currently, 99 per cent of the global population breathes air that doesn’t meet the WHO’s air quality guidelines. And as nature-scarce urban areas expand, it’s becoming more difficult to manage and limit air pollution. Tackling this problem requires more than general air quality monitoring – it demands deeper data insights and proactive solutions. Enter a new solution from UK startup Persium, which combines smart sensors with digital twin technology to transform how cities monitor, understand, and respond to air pollution.

This innovation – a digital twinning technology called MapView, supported by the company’s IoT-based “Pods” – allows for hyper-localised air quality monitoring of up to 12 types of pollutants and key weather parameters. This data is made easy to understand with a three-dimensional pollution visualisation. As well as static outdoor Pods, Persium also creates indoor and pocket pods, helping offices, homes, and individuals monitor take control of their own air health.

The technology goes beyond simple data collection, integrating this valuable information into a dynamic, virtual representation of air quality in 3D. As well as real-time monitoring, the comprehensive platform provides policymakers and city planners with a robust tool for testing scenarios on their digital twin models, evaluating the effectiveness of environmental policies, and prioritising interventions without having to implement them in the real world first.

What sets Persium’s solution apart is its customisability and depth of insight. Unlike conventional air quality systems that are often costly and limited in scope, the platform’s modular Pods can be tailored for various settings. The real-time 3D visualisation feature adds an extra layer of usability, offering stakeholders an intuitive view of pollution “hotspots” and helping identify areas where health interventions or infrastructure changes could have the most impact. Persium is on a mission to make cities smarter, cleaner, and healthier, which underscores the company’s vision for not only monitoring but actively managing urban air quality.

By allowing for direct data integration from third-party sources and offering an API for external applications, the platform is built to be scalable and adaptable, ready to address specific urban challenges across a range of global markets. Based in London, Persium currently has air quality monitoring networks across Europe, the Middle East, and SouthEast Asia, having gained promising traction among city governments looking for innovative ways to combat pollution. Persium was also selected to be a part of Blue Earth’s BE100 2024 cohort.

Written By: Oscar Williams