• Augmenting Air Quality Monitoring Networks

The PerSapien novel technology can efficiently filter PM 2.5, PM 10, and harmful gases with minimal breathing resistance. We have applied for a patent on this technology in the name of PerSapien, which stands for saving (per) each human (Sapien) life”, says Debayan Saha, the co-founder of PerSapien who is also a former IITian, and Stanford-India Bio design fellow.
Based on this novel air purification technology, PerSapien’s easy-to-carry device — called Airlines — does not require any attachments and is barely visible when in use. The tiny product (it’s around 2 cm in size) does not need washing or cleaning either and has a use-and-throw component that is economical enough to be replaced every day. Persapien has also backed up Airlines with a support-and-feedback mobile app — called Airlines Data —that assesses the amount of protection achieved.

This is done through an Air Quality Data System (also self-developed by the start-up) that informs users about the real-time quality of air in their immediate environment (within a radius of 1 km). According to the PerSapien co-founder, the idea is to empower every citizen with the ‘Right to Information on air quality at a personal level.“Currently, the government-installed sensors that provide the Air Quality Index (AQI) are typically located about 10-20 km away from users’ present location. As the AQI varies every 1 km and with time, this data is not in real time.

So, the team realized that personal-level AQI is required in real time to help users understand what is in the air that they are breathing. To achieve this goal, we developed an advanced data system that relies on GPS locations and powerful algorithms to take input data from satellite, traffic, weather forecasts and sensors.

This enables both healthy and sensitive users to take better decisions for their own health