Real estate professionals may soon have a new way to inform customers about ambient air quality in homes and condominiums. Bosch has introduced a compact and portable air quality monitoring system in partnership with Intel.
Intel said its Quark processor and software will power the Bosch device. The system uses Wi-Fi and GSM cellular networks to deliver data from wireless sensors to cloud-based analytics software. Intel’s IoT software enables device management and end-to-end security.
Intel said the device features remote monitoring and includes the ability to provide over-the-air calibration to keep the sensors adjusted. Because it is built to withstand rugged conditions, it could also be used to monitor air quality at construction sites, Intel said.
Municipalities are likely to be the biggest market for air quality monitoring systems. Intel said that according to the World Health Organization, 90% of the global population lives in areas that do not have access to clean air. But most air quality monitoring systems on the market today are far too expensive for the majority of cities. The company said the Bosch system is 100 times smaller than most systems on the market today, and anywhere from 10 to 20 times less expensive.
Bosch hopes that both governments and industrial customers will deploy hundreds of its devices and use the data generated to create more stringent and precise pollution control measures. But the company is also targeting niche applications for the technology, including the real estate and construction industries.
“In the residential environment, the micro climate management system can also be used to provide key information for prospective buyers of real estate, and for sellers and builders to provide evidence of ambient air quality,” said Intel.
