What can I do with hackAIR?
Many of you have been asking: “How does hackAIR work – and can I try it out?” Like you we can’t wait for the launch of the platform in summer 2017. Here’s an appetizer of how users will be able to use hackAIR. Meet Karl, Anna and Stephan and read how they use hackAIR to get up-to-date air quality information, upload sensor measurements and raise awareness on air pollution.
The retired teacher Karl (63) has strong concerns with regards to air pollution and is active in a local NGO in Berlin. With little technical knowledge and an Android tablet he mainly uses hackAIR to keep track of the air pollution levels, to warn his daughter Anna when air pollution levels are too high and to upload pictures of the sky via the mobile application. He is also actively stimulating others to engage with the platform and sees hackAIR as a tool to raise awareness and to educate users in air quality. The gamification elements motivate him to take and upload sky pictures multiple times a day and he challenges as as many people as possible to do the same.
Karl’s busy daughter Anna (32) mainly uses hackAIR to receive personalised notifications on air pollution levels to know if she has to take precautions. When she created her profile on the platform she indicated that she has asthma and is pregnant. Every morning she uses the web app to check the current air quality measurements to decide whether she should bike to work or take the subway. She also contributes to air quality measurement by regularly uploading her sky pictures to Flickr or Twitter with the official hashtag and a location tag. She trusts that privacy and security were key guiding principles when the hackAIR platform was developed.
Her husband Stephan (35) is enthusiastically experimenting with the two sensor toolkits his father-in-law gave him. Data from the environmental sensor attached to his office building and the other one attached to his balcony are automatically uploaded to the platform. Stephan regularly checks hackAIR’s air quality measurements to inform his wife and to decide on which locations and at what hours it is most suitable to go for a run. He has just started to also give his own perceptions of the air quality on specific locations in Berlin. And he convinced some colleagues to use the platform for personalised recommendations on how to reduce air pollution, e.g. by avoiding using the car that day.
