Search

TZOA Brings Environmental Monitoring Anywhere You Go

04.27.15 | By
TZOA Brings Environmental Monitoring Anywhere You Go

Here’s an interesting idea: instead of cementing the location of an air quality monitoring device to a single locale (e.g. your desk or in the living room), what if you could take a reading of the air quality, temperature, humidity, atmospheric pressure, ambient light and UV light strength everywhere you went, whether by on foot, car, or by bike? In theory it would be sort of like an environmental Fitbit designed to keep tabs on the “health” of the world around you, a real-time portable sensor evolving beyond the bodily parameters of the quantified self. The clip-on TZOA Enviro-Tracker is built around this premise we should know just as much about what’s outside as we do about what’s happening in our insides.

TZOA_both_side

About the diameter of a silver dollar (and as shiny as a newly minted penny), the clip-on TZOA is designed to be an unobtrusive monitoring companion utilizing a particulate matter sensor to keep tabs on concentration of annoying allergens and pollutants. Additionally, the TZOA isn’t just a stand-alone affair. As crowd-sourced traffic monitoring worked wonders helping Waze app users avoid traffic jams, TZOA could similarly aid wearers to avoid unhealthy zones…or simply notify them it’s time to crack open a window, or time for a break outside (if you didn’t get the notice, the EPA reports indoor levels of pollutants may be “2 to 5 times – and occasionally more than 100 times – higher than outdoor pollutant levels”).


TZOA_SMALLbag

Of course USB and wireless connectivity to an accompanying smartphone/tablet device via Bluetooth is par for the course. A realtime environmental report created by the accumulated data uploaded from other TZOA further improve the accuracy of a technology which turns every wearer into a freelance weather and air quality reporter. As interesting as that all sounds the most interesting effect of the TZOA could be how it would affect the environmental quality of interior spaces, especially shared work spaces where temperature and air quality can become detrimental not only to productivity, but also individual’s health.

TZOA-j_new_UI_2

Those interested in the technology can direct themselves over to the TZOA website where developers will begin accepting pre-orders, then shipping Q4 in 2015.

Gregory Han is a Senior Editor at Design Milk. A Los Angeles native with a profound love and curiosity for design, hiking, tide pools, and road trips, a selection of his adventures and musings can be found at gregoryhan.com.