An app has been created by a student under observation of faculty. (Express Photo by Narendra Vaskar)
In a bid to raise awareness around air pollution, a team of researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Tirupati has developed an android-based mobile app to help the user “see” air pollution levels in their surroundings. The ‘AiR – Pollution Visualiser’ has been developed by the Research in Intelligent Software and Human Analytics (RISHA) Lab, Department of Computer Science and Engineering, IIT-Tirupati in collaboration with Prof Suresh Jain, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. The app uses Augmented Reality (AR) to provide an interactive and live (nearby station) experience of air pollutants, the institute claims.
In video| How does AiR app work?
“We take the pollution data from Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) and visualise various air pollutants present in the locality through GPS in the user’s surroundings. AiR also creates awareness in an interactive manner about the different pollutants, sources, and their impact on health. The app can be used to view air pollutants across 130 stations in India,” informed the institute.
The app is available on Google Play Store but works only on AR Core supported devices. It has been developed by Noble Saji Mathews, a computer engineering student, Dr Sridhar Chimlakonda from the Department of Computer Science and Engineering, and Prof Suresh Jain from the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering.
The team has also submitted a research paper based on their findings and research while developing the app. “Information on air quality is present on multiple portals such as the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), which provides Air Quality Index that could be accessed by the public. However, such portals are scarcely visited by the general public. Visualising air quality in the location where an individual resides could help in bringing awareness among the public,” their research paper reads.
The IIT had earlier this year created a mobile-based game to raise awareness about the coronavirus pandemic and security measures to be used against the same. The app called ‘Survivor COVID-19’ was also developed in the RISHA lab.