By year's end,
Chicago will have 50 sensors attached to downtown light poles collecting
data on everything from the humidity to air quality to the noise level.
The project,
called "Array of Things," has the potential for far-reaching
applications. For example, air quality data will help you navigate a route
through the city that avoids pollution and allergens. Or traffic data will inform
the city where best to install bike lines.
The Center for
Computation and Data at the University of Chicago is taking the lead on the
project in partnership with Chicago. The sensors are located in a box and will
be covered with a decorative aluminum shield. A prototype will be completed in
the next couple of weeks.
The first of the
sensors will appear along Michigan Avenue in downtown Chicago.
The data — which
also includes wind, heat, light intensity and precipitation — will be made
public on Chicago's open data website as well as a separate online database,
allowing individuals to build their own applications.
One of the things
the sensors will collect is the number of Wi-Fi and Bluetooth devices within a
100-foot range to try to get at the number of pedestrians. The information
collected by the sensors will not be connected to a specific device or IP
address, says Charlie Catlett, director of the Center for Computation and Data
at the University of Chicago and Argonne National Laboratory
Currently,
Catlett's team is seeking additional funding from the National Science
Foundation, which will allow them to install "hundreds of nodes"
throughout the city, he said.
Chicago is already
using sensors in a limited way. For example, some bridges have sensors that
collect data about temperatures and road conditions, said Brenna Berman, the
city's chief information officer.
"We want to
know as much about our city as we can because we know we can use that
information to deliver services more efficiently and effectively," Berman
said.
Photo: Douglas Pancoast and Satya Mark Basu, School of the Art Institute of Chicago.
edited from USA TODAY
