Pervasive wireless noise sensors (eMotes)
eMotes is a small monitoring device created by five researchers from the University of Newcastle in 2018 that is giving regulators the data needed to better track and clamp down on common sources of urban air pollution. Auditory sensors inside of eMotes measure the decibels of different sources of air pollution and match it to known decimal levels of common sources of urban noise pollution, like cars. A lot of variables contribute to noise pollution, but not every one of them can be acted upon, adjusted for, or even regularly monitored. eMotes allows the most common and pervasive forms of noise pollution to be measured and reported to regulators so that city streets can be better designed, noise buffers installed, or standards of acceptable levels of noise adjusted. Interestingly, eMotes did not take into consideration the blare of emergency vehicle sirens, which are arguably among the most common and most disruptive, but there is a shared understanding between the researchers because sirens belong to emergency vehicles, the issue is unlikely to change. With cities becoming more populated and dense, noise pollution will continue to be an issue for residents (not to mention any urban wildlife), so, hopefully, this device can result in some progress being made to combat a growing problem.
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Artificial Intelligence, Lifestyle, Monitoring, Pollution, Regulation
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