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Aclima via YouTube

Google is about to tell you how dirty the air you are breathing is

The new software to map air quality is being tested in the United States.

GOOGLE HAS BEGUN testing the air quality with its Street View vehicles.

In recent times the company has been pretty innovative with the use of its mapping technology, allowing users to track places  they have previously been, and directions within a number of well-known buildings, including the Guinness factory. 

This new innovation has seen Google team up with Aclima, a company based in San Francisco that produces internet-connected sensors that test the air quality.

The sensors attached to the cars will be able to measure the amount of carbon dioxide, nitric oxide, nitrogen dioxide, methane, black carbon, particulate matter and Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) in the surrounding air.

The air quality is mapped across the different areas of a city, with the concentration of the various chemicals and compounds in the different neighbourhoods clear to see.

A month-long trial has already taken place in the US city of Denver.

Cars drove for 750 hours and produced imagery of areas all across Denver.

map of Denver produced by Aclima Google.org Google.org

The technology is set to be rolled out to the San Francisco Bay Area this Autumn. There is currently no indication as to when it might be used on an international scale.

Speaking about the project, CEO of Aclima Davida Herzl said the move, “lays the foundation for generating high resolution maps of air quality cities”.

Aclima / YouTube

Read: Google Maps knows where you’ve been and it’s making it easier for you to check

Also: Google is moving on from the ‘peeing robot’ controversy

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