Stratuscent, a Canadian AI startup which has developed the world’s leading technology to digitize the sense of smell leveraging its exclusive license to NASA patents, announced the global launch of a new smart device; NOZE – the world’s first AI-powered air quality monitor designed to be a first line of defense against the airborne transmission of the Coronavirus.
Launching at a time when restrictions are being lifted around the world and people are becoming increasingly concerned over the quality of air in shared indoor spaces, NOZE’s technology is the first in the world to have capabilities to track the airborne markers (VOCs) released by infected persons for both the Coronavirus and Influenza, in addition to a wide range of other toxins commonly found in indoor air.
“A big takeaway from the COVID-19 pandemic is that people rightfully want to know more about the indoor spaces they enter,” said Karim Aly, chief executive officer at Stratuscent. “The same way that we have a fundamental expectation to drink clean water and eat clean food, our new normal is one where we will also have an expectation to breathe clean air regardless of where we are. Recognizing how our technology could help bring that transparency, we dedicated ourselves to building a product that could go in every home, classroom, office and most other indoor spaces.”
NOZE helps people understand the characteristics of the air they breathe, keeping them better informed and enabling them to take action to safeguard their health and well-being. Powered by artificial intelligence, NOZE tracks the indicators of airborne Coronavirus and Influenza, monitors indoor mold risk and keeps tabs on nine other air contaminants to deliver important context about the quality of indoor air. NOZE’s AI algorithms quantify virus risk on a 10-point scale as a first line of defense within indoor spaces – ranging from the risk of virus transmission (spread) to the probability of virus presence.
Recent evidence has demonstrated that airborne transmission from breathing in aerosolized droplets, which enter the air as an infected person exhales, talks, sneezes, or coughs, is the primary route of Coronavirus transmission. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the World Health Organization and the Public Health Agency of Canada among others around the world have all recognized that the Coronavirus is airborne and have updated their information to include guidelines around airborne spread.
According to the EPA, people spend 90 per cent of their time indoors, where COVID-19 transmission is believed to be 20 times higher than outdoors. COVID-19 virus particles are also able to travel over 10 meters and stay infectious in the air for hours in indoor environments. This brings air quality squarely into the spotlight and makes NOZE a vital tool to monitor the shared air we breathe in indoor spaces to keep families, employees, clients and visitors safe from airborne infection.
