We Are Air Aware

Project

Last Updated on October 27, 2026

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Unless air pollution is visible, most people do not think about it.

The air we move through every day contains invisible particulate pollution that changes from street to street and minute to minute.

We Are Air Aware uses wearable sensing, mapping, and public art to make those invisible exposures perceptible.

Together, invisible exposure becomes perceptible and socially addressable.

Air pollution is a mixture of gases and particles. Fine and ultrafine particles can reach deep into the lungs, and the smallest may enter the bloodstream. This research measures particulate matter while investigating black carbon, a harmful combustion-related component associated with traffic, industry, aircraft, and wildfires. Particulate pollution comes from transportation, industry, construction, agriculture, aircraft, wildfires, and other sources. Because pollution changes across places and throughout the day, exposure can differ dramatically even within the same neighbourhood. Wearable air-quality monitors measure personal exposure to particulate pollution during everyday movement.

Wearable artworks transform air-quality measurements into visible, embodied experiences in public space. AirWear, the project’s wearable particulate monitor, is developed with communities through workshops, prototype testing, and field deployments. Participants help shape how the technology is worn, what it communicates, and how personal measurements become meaningful community knowledge.

The project is developing privacy-conscious community maps to bring together measurements collected during everyday activities. These maps will help participants explore how particulate pollution varies across places and over time, while protecting personal location information. Visit MyAirWear.ca to learn more about the technology and follow the project’s development.

We Are Air Aware connects wearable monitoring, community mapping, and public art.

We Are Air Aware has benefited from the knowledge and contributions of collaborators across art, design, atmospheric science, engineering, information technology, and community-engaged research.

We Are Air Aware brings together expertise across art, design, atmospheric science, engineering, environmental health, and community-engaged research. We gratefully acknowledge Dr. Shital Desai as supervisor, Dr. Claire Davies (Queen’s University) as co-supervisor, and external advisors Dr. Marianne Hatzopoulou (University of Toronto), Prof. H. Oliver Gao (Cornell University), and Dr. Jacqueline Klopp (Columbia University). We thank SaTS Lab research assistant Dave Dohyoung Kim for prototype development and research support; and SaTS Lab research assistant Khushi Jetley for co-design participant engagement and project implementation. We thank Abolfazl Anvari Kohestani and Dr. Gerd Grau for expertise in electronics, additive manufacturing, and laser-induced graphene sensor development; Dr. Joel Ong for contributions to computational media, biomedia art, and public sensing; and Ranee Lee and Dr. Mark-David Hosale for their contributions to the project. We also thank Bahar Amini, Basak Babadagi, Sabrina Huffman, and Amine Mahmoudi for research, design, and sensor-development contributions; Gian Cambridge for the original website design, development, and visual communication and G. M. Crevier for photography.

Funding Acknowledgement

This research has been undertaken thanks in part to funding from the Connected Minds Program, supported by the Canada First Research Excellence Fund (CFREF-2022-00010); the New Frontiers in Research Fund – Exploration, SensingChange (NFRFE-2023-00830); a SSHRC Explore Grant (Project P2026-0327); and the Dahdaleh Institute for Global Health 2026 Critical Perspectives in Global Health Seed Grant.

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