The Register® — Biting the hand that feeds IT

Feeds

USB gadget warns of impending suffocation

Breathe easy

Worried that the air around you isn't very clean? Well, a USB-powered gadget aims to tell whether it is or not.

usb_air_analysis_01

The Breathing Bud Air Quality Indicator: does exactly what it says

The Breathing Bud Air Quality Indicator is a concept gadget that would essentially continually analyse the quality of the air around it and then change colour according to how clean or disgusting your oxygen supply is.

Designed by Xinxin Wang and Zhi Chai, the gadget would feature vents at its base where air would be sucked in for analysis. The “bud” on its top would glow blue if the recently analysed air’s of good quality, but change to pink if, say, someone’s just let rip.

usb_air_analysis_02

Blue is good, pink is bad

Powered over USB, the gadget would also feed air analysis data to your PC so you could compare the air quality in your living room to “standards that are easily available off the net”.

The only problem, as Register Hardware see it, is what action you’re supposed to take when the bud glows pink. Move rooms, perhaps? Open a window? Maybe even buy an oxygen tank? ®

Latest Comments

Claim it detects CBRN agents, sell it to the paranoid;

make a fortune from office workers. Particularly if it has a loud integral alert.

On a lighter note, imagine the fun if one on every desk in the cities of London or NY (for example) went off at the same predetermined time ("accidently" left as a test feature in the firmware).

I'm sure it has potential bona fide uses for those with respiratory conditions such as asthma, but we find that if they're breakdancing on the floor, its a good guide to something not being quite right.

0
0

More from The Register

US boffin builds 32-way Raspberry Pi cluster
Beowulf cluster built for the price of a single PC
Nintendo throws flaming legal barrel at YouTubing fans
All your walk-through vid revenue are belong to us
Review: HP Pavilion 14 Chromebook
All roads lead to Chrome?
Borked your iDevice? Pay EVEN MORE to have it fixed by Applecare
Or scream at their hapless techies on their forums
Euro PC shipments plummet into bottomless pit of DOOOOM
11th quarter of decline, 20pc drop on last year - Gartner
Report: AT&T dropping Facebook phone after dismal sales
Turns out folks won't buy that for a dollar
Which petite model likes a fondle and GETTING WET? Sony's Xperia ZR
Take this new mobe swimming. Just not deep, or for long, OK?
Google adds Atari Easter Egg for Breakout's birthday
Cute game born in Jobsian heart of darkness