Data for a Better City: Array of Things Project

University of Chicago to Serve As Test Bed for Array of Things Project

Robert Mitchum | July 13, 2015

...That is just one potential application of the data that will be collected and released by the Array of Things, a new urban sensing project developed by scientists from the University of Chicago, Argonne National Laboratory and the Computation Institute, in partnership with the city of Chicago and the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Open data collected by interactive sensor “nodes” will serve as a “fitness tracker” for the city, providing valuable new information for residents, scientists and policymakers to build a safer, cleaner and more efficient urban environment. 

Two Array of Things nodes were installed at UChicago and have begun gathering environmental data, part of a pilot phase that will bring a total of 11 nodes to the campus this summer. Source: http://news.uchicago.edu/article/2015/07/13/university-chicago-serve-test-bed-array-things-project

...Eventually, the Array of Things team hopes to mount hundreds of nodes throughout Chicago neighborhoods. Each one will contain sensors for temperature, humidity, light, sound levels, air quality and more, to take the pulse of the city at unparalleled resolution. All data will be available to the public, for use in research studies, application development or civic improvement, stimulating the local tech industry and community engagement with the city. 

<more at http://news.uchicago.edu/article/2015/07/13/university-chicago-serve-test-bed-array-things-project; related link: https://arrayofthings.github.io/ (What Is The Array of Things?) [What if a light pole told you to watch out for an icy patch of sidewalk ahead? What if an app told you the most populated route for a late-night walk to the El station by yourself? What if you could get weather and air quality information block-by-block, instead of city-by-city? The Array of Things (AoT) is a network of interactive, modular sensor boxes around Chicago collecting real-time data on the city’s environment, infrastructure, and activity for research and public use.]; further: http://www.chicagomag.com/city-life/June-2014/What-Chicagos-Array-of-Things-Will-Actually-Do/ (What Chicago’s ‘Array of Things’ Will Actually Do
The data-gathering network of environmental sensors will monitor the basics of the city’s health, but privacy watchdogs are worried)>