Intel wants to provide smartphones with sensors to monitor air quality

Intel Labs has developed a new technology that can measure air quality. The sensors could possibly be used in smartphones in the future, a chief executive of Intel’s research branch predicts.

The device from Intel Labs, Intel’s R&D department, has on-board sensors to measure nitrogen oxide, carbon monoxide and ozone. This new Common Sense air quality meter has GPS and GSM connections and can therefore link the measurement data to a location. By uploading the data to a server, the measurement data can be combined and a picture of the air quality per region can be obtained.

The measuring device has approximately the same dimensions as a telephone. Intel Labs CEO Anthony Joseph says the functionality may be integrated into smartphones in the future. Smartphones already have the necessary connections so that only the sensors need to be integrated into the phone, Joseph believes.

The equipment runs on the Berkeley Mote chip, which is specially made to work together with various sensors. In the future, Intel’s own Atom chip may be used.