Phone-Based Chemical Sensor

September 20, 2006 – 10:13 pm

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For those of us who want to know right when to employ our plastic sheeting and duct tape, Gentag, a wireless sensor developer, has engineered a portable chemical analyzer to work with phones.

Of course, I jest. If you’re close enough to a chemical attack for the phone to detect it, you’re close enough to start suffering the effects of it. In fact, sensationalist title of The Register’s article aside, this might be a handy little gadget for folks like me who suffer occasional, severe reactions to pollen. I mean, most of the time I just know to stay inside on Saturdays in June when my neighbors are all out mowing their identical lawns with their identical lawnmowers, but in other situations it might be a more helpful little gadget.

That said, this could end up qualifying for one of the most bizarre confluences of technology.

On the other hand… let’s say there is a big chemical terrorist attack AND these sensors have become as ubiquitous as GPS in cell phones, the US Department of Homeland Security could use data automatically culled from the phones in affected areas to determine size, nature, and spread of such an attack. Wouldn’t do much for the poor shlubs whose phones did the detecting, but might just for others. Not that I’m not creepified by the idea of being a walking part of a distributed early-warning system, but it has some appeal in a brutally utilitarian way.

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