The ubiquity, power and low cost of smartphones are making these devices increasingly attractive as platforms for serious scientific research. The devices are getting more powerful and are becoming more open, offering access to programmers for customization.
MIT’s Media Lab held the first Human-Environment Mobile-Based Interactions (HEMBI) workshop last week to explore ways in which these devices are being harnessed for environmental monitoring. The presentations at this event explored a wide range of technical and application topics, including the themes of scientist as inventor and crowd-sourced data.
Scientists are pulling together off-the-shelf technology to augment the capabilities of the sensors to enhance the video and audio recording as well as their data logging capabilities. The open software platforms on some of these devices also offers a means to program the device to become smarter — reviewing its own data recordings to only log the data of interest.
Researchers are also offering using the devices as a means to harness citizen scientists, providing applications for common devices in order to enable citizens to collect data. Scientists are also providing access to web-enabled sensors so that citizens can help the scientists analyze the large amounts of data.
“Data collected from these devices will serve to promote environmental understanding, identify environmental threats, and encourage changes to promote sustainability. For example, networks consisting of hundreds of mobile phones fitted with customized microphones, cameras, and sensors can pick up sounds, sights, and smells generated by animals or plants, and then disseminate their findings through internet to people anywhere on Earth. The data can also be downloaded and analyzed instantaneously, providing real-time information from our oceans, forests, deserts, or polar environments. This information could be a valuable tool for promoting environmental conservation, disease control, and enriched relationships between humans and other species.”
